


Electric Blue

by junipernapalm



Series: Electric Blue [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Masturbation, Past Violence, Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-10-02 16:40:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17267651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junipernapalm/pseuds/junipernapalm
Summary: A year after the Android Revolution, Eve Park, a former detective for the Chicago Police Department, joins the Detroit Police Department's newly formed android crimes unit. Together with her new partner, Connor, they must try to solve a string of crimes that are tied to the ghosts of the past and the new influencers of post-revolution Detroit.





	1. The Nervous Condition

**Author's Note:**

> I have not posted a fic in a long time. So there's a big chance this is just shit. So sorry ahead of time. I've just been working on this lately and decided to post it. I'll try to post a new chapter each Tuesday (to the best of my ability).

An obnoxious neon green car pulled into the Detroit City Police Department’s Central Station parking lot. Eve Park climbed out of her car and took several deep breaths. She looked at her watch, an old fashioned analog men’s wristwatch, to see the time. She could count the seconds in her head or just listen to the thud of her heart as she walked closer into the building. It had been a year since the android revolution and a year since Eve quit the Chicago Police Department. All signs pointed to her being ready and fit for duty again- at least that’s what the doctors and her therapist said. She questioned if that was just wishful thinking, but she felt a tiny glimmer of hope for a new beginning in Detroit.

Inside Central Station, Eve stopped at the reception desk. All the receptionists were androids. There were countless androids in Chicago, but not to the degree that Detroit had androids. CyberLife’s control of Detroit was well known throughout the country, but the reports were understatements compared to the reality.

“Hello, welcome to Detroit City Police Department, Central Station. What’s the reason for your visit?” An overly cheery android receptionist said.

“I’m actually here to start my first day,” Eve said.

“May I see some identification?”

Eve scrambled for her wallet in her purse. She struggled to get her license out of her bag and then presented it to the receptionist. She wet her lips and tapped on the counter. She could see other people staring at her in all of her anxious glory, or at least it felt like everyone was staring.

“Sorry, first day. I’m kind of nervous,” Eve said.

The receptionist ignored Eve and took her card to scan. Her face lit up once the scan was completed and placed the card back in Eve’s hands.

“Thank you, Detective Park. If you could wait in the lobby, Jenny from HR will be here to take you in,” the receptionist said.

Equally as cheery as the receptionists, Jenny from HR bounced into the lobby and squealed when she saw Eve. Was everyone just all sunshine and rainbows at the DPD, Eve wondered. If so, she was in the wrong police department. She was used to jaded detectives and all around assholes who were biting for a chance at promotion. Jenny walked at a blistering pace through the department and past officers, paying no attention to Eve, who was trailing along.

“This is exciting! The first female detective in Central Station in forever- too long if you ask me. We were so excited when the results of your test came in, and then when we contacted the Chicago Police Department, your recommendations were absolutely stunning. Now if you follow me, we need you to get your ID and badge. Then I’ll need you to sign some things and go through our basic HR seminars on harassment in the workplace. Just your regular HR things. Nothing to worry about. My name is Jenny, by the way. Any questions about benefits or the work environment, you can ask me. All of the other questions should probably go to your commanding officer, which would be Jeffrey Fowler,” Jenny said.

After sitting through numbing powerpoint presentations on benefits, retirement packages, and workplace rules, Jenny made sure Eve got settled in with her ID. The picture took several attempts as Jenny expressed that the lighting be just perfect for Eve. When Eve received the card, the picture still looked as disappointing as any work photo could be with harsh fluorescent lighting making Eve look like a ghost. She decided that at least her brows looked nice and that her black turtleneck made her look like a professional. She needed to make a good impression on the captain and the rest of the office.  _ Don’t fuck this up Park _ , Eve thought.

“Now remember, your work badge is not just an ID, but it's also your key to just about everything in this building. So don't lose it. It's expensive and a work violation! Okay, you’ll want to meet with Captain Fowler now. There’s some really great news for you. I can’t wait for you to find out. DPD is very happy to have you here,” Jenny said as she whirled away to whatever her next venture was.

Central Station looked like most modern police stations to Eve. Most of the force appeared to be human with the exception of some patrolling androids that remained with the force after the android revolution. Eve wandered to Captain Fowler’s office. When she entered his office, he didn’t notice her and kept his eyes focused on his terminal. He sighed heavily as he scrolled through files and rubbed his eyes. Eve lightly knocked on his door.

“Captain Fowler?” Eve said.

“Detective Park, is it? Take a seat,” Fowler said, motioning to an empty chair in front of his desk.

Eve nodded and sat in the chair. She brushed back an errant strand of hair back behind her ear and bit her lip, a classic nervous tick of hers.

“Now, I have no idea why someone with your record would just want to up and leave for more detective work, but I’m also not going to question when a detective like that shows up in my office ready to work. You had the best test results for Central Station. The only person who beat you is an android, and he insisted on taking the exam for the formality despite everyone telling him he didn’t need to,” Fowler said.

Eve sat up straight at Fowler’s words.

“Excuse me, but did you say an android? There’s a detective that’s an android?” Eve said.

“Yeah, some prototype CyberLife made but never put into production. Things just went shit after the revolution,” Fowler said.

“But he’s some sort of android detective- like that’s why he was made?”

“Yeah. Do you have some sort of problem with that?”

“No, it’s just a surprise.”

“Good because starting today, he’s your partner. Speak of the devil.”

Fowler motioned to his door. Eve turned around and saw a young man approaching Fowler’s office. Not a young man, Eve reminded herself, an android. He wore a crisp, white shirt with a burgundy tie and fitted tweed blazer. The sartorial choices of this android were impressive, Eve noted.  Since he was a prototype, he was absurdly good looking. CyberLife always liked making attractive prototypes to make you buy into the fantasy. Eve would say that this one had a “boy next door” look with his freckles and warm brown eyes. His looks were definitely designed with trust in mind. You always wanted to trust the boy who made you want to melt into his arms. Eve shook her head. She didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. 

“Captain Fowler, you wanted to see me?” the android said.

“Connor, let me introduce you to the newest detective in Central, Eve Park,” Fowler said as he gestured to Eve.

Connor immediately offered his hand to Eve. She shook his hand- just a firm, no nonsense handshake. Even with Eve’s formality, he broke into a smile. If sunshine could erupt from Connor’s smile, it would. Eve didn’t know it was possible for an android to feel so warm and friendly in such a sincere manner. Deviancy did all sorts of wonders.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eve. I’m looking forward to working with you,” Connor said.

“Same, Connor,” Eve said.

“You two will get plenty acquainted soon enough,” Fowler tossed a tablet unceremoniously onto his desk in front of Connor and Eve. Eve leaned in and looked at the DPD logo. Beneath the logo read “Android Crimes Unit”.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think this is what I signed up for,” Eve said.

“On the contrary, Detective Park, you worked on a number of violent android related cases for the Chicago Police Department that make you more suited for this assignment than any other detective in this police department,” Connor said.

“Did you read my file? Captain, are you serious?”

“I am. Since the last chief of police failed to set up an android crime unit, Chief of Police Howard is determined to start this one. Look as much as it pains me to say it, Connor’s right. We hired you because your experience working on android related crimes was something we needed. This is an experiment for the Department. You and Connor are the best that we have for this. He’ll show you around and get you acclimated. Remember, we have a lot riding on this. Lots of people are watching you, him, and me. So don’t fuck this up. Oh and welcome to the Detroit Police Department,” Fowler said.

Eve politely nodded and got up from her seat. She noticed Connor did the same, even down to the way he brushed off his sleeves like she did.

“And Detective Park? Jenny from HR says that there’s more paperwork for you to sign at your terminal,” Fowler said.

“Got it. Thank you, Captain,” Eve said.

Outside Fowler’s office, all the officers and detectives were staring at Eve. It was like the first day at school. She focused her eyes on anything that wasn’t anybody else in the office. Luckily, she found an empty desk with a nameplate that read her name. There was a sad sprinkle of confetti and a handmade sign in perfect lettering that said “Welcome Eve”. She brushed the confetti off her chair, placed the sign on her desk, and started her terminal. She noticed Connor sitting down at the desk opposite of hers. His desk was not as spartan as she imagined it would be. There were a couple pictures tacked on the wall beside him. Most of them were of him and some older man in various locations across Detroit, and others were of a Saint Bernard happily snuggling up with Connor.

“His name is Sumo,” Connor said.

“The dog or the man?” Eve said.

Connor laughed. There was a musical quality to his laugh that Eve liked. “The dog. The man is Lieutenant Hank Anderson.”

Eve’s eyes wandered to Connor’s nameplate.  _ Connor Anderson. _

“Is he your dad or something?” Eve asked.

“Legally yes. Since I am android and Hank-“ Connor said.

Eve held her hand up. “You don’t have to explain it to me. I’m familiar with the concept of adoption.”

“Lieutenant Anderson said he didn’t want me walking around without a last name, and that was one of the legal options that I explored.”

“Obviously."

“So you’re from Chicago.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never been there. Is it nice?”

Eve shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Does your family still live there?”

“Yeah.”

No one seemed to have invented a poker face for androids, at least not for Connor. Connor was terrible at hiding his emotions. The disappointment in his face at Eve’s answers was very apparent from his frown to the wrinkle in his forehead. Eve started to feel sorry. It honestly felt like kicking a basket full of puppies and kittens and a punch to the gut.

“Don’t take it personally. I don’t make it a habit to indulge details about my life to people I’ve just met,” Eve said.

“But if I knew you longer?” Connor said.

“We’ll see.”

Eve looked up from behind her terminal. A man approached her desk. He had the smuggest face Eve had seen in a while. She knew this type of guy. Every police department had an asshole like this in their precinct. The way he saddled up to her desk left a gross feeling in her stomach. This guy probably called himself an alpha male non-ironically. Any man that had to call himself an alpha male was automatically the worst kind of man to Eve, and this man reeked like terrible body spray and old frat boy mentality.

“The name is Gavin Reed,” he said.

“Mhm,” Eve said, looking back at her terminal.

“And you are?”

“You can read. Right?” Eve tapped at her nameplate.

“Eve Park… nice name.”

“I guess.”

“The new detective. You know I can show you the ropes around here.”

“I’m quite fine.”

“You never know.”

“I have someone to show me around already. Thank you very much.” Eve pointed to Connor.

“Yeah, sorry you had to get stuck with the plastic prick.” Gavin gestured to Connor, who had been typing away and ignoring Gavin. Eve looked up at Gavin and pushed away from her desk.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Eve said, folding her arms and lifting an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. Does it?” Gavin said with a smug smile. Eve wanted to punch the smile off his face badly.

“I don’t know. It does make you seem like- I don’t know-” Eve waved her hand around as she pretended she forgot the word.

“I think the word you’re looking for, Detective Park, is ‘asshole’.” Connor said.

“Thank you, Connor. That was the exact word I was looking for. Yeah, sorry, but I have no interest in talking to you.”

“You would rather talk to that plastic piece of shit?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Eve nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I can make myself any clearer on that, but you’ve established several times that you do not listen to anything but the sound of your own voice. Now, Jenny from HR has been emailing me about me completing these forms, and I may consider letting her also know that you’ve been harassing me and my partner and that you’ve used derogatory terms to refer to my partner. As you probably know, harassment does warrant a write up according to HR. I should know because I sat through an hour training with Jenny on what does and doesn’t constitute as harassment in the workplace. Should I continue?”

“You’re a real fucking know-it-all.”

“I think I’m good with that. Now if you don’t mind, I need to write this email to Jenny.”

“Who’s she going to believe?”

“Me.” Eve pointed her thumb at Connor. “You do know that androids remember everything. Do you?”

Gavin growled something that Eve could have sworn was “fuck”, but she was too busy smirking at Gavin skulking away to completely pay attention.

“Thank you, Detective Park,” Connor said. “But you don’t need to defend me.”

“I didn’t do that for you. I just hate guys like that, and I would have drop kicked Gavin Reed into oblivion regardless,” Eve said.

Eve slapped her terminal to wake it up and resumed working. From the corner of her eye, she caught Connor staring at her.

“Hey Connor,” Eve said.

“What is it Detective Park?”Connor asked.

“Call me Eve.”

With that, Connor smiled, and somehow Eve knew that things were starting right in Detroit. And maybe, just maybe, she was going to be fine for the first time since her accident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -100% that welcome sign for Eve was written in CyberLife Sans by your favorite android, and he is very proud of it.  
> -I promise that Gavin won't be a complete asshole for this fic. He just has not met his match (insert eyebrow wiggle here)  
> -I named this fic after the Arcade Fire song "Electric Blue" because I'm lame. As a warning, I will have you know that I like to reference music a lot.


	2. There's Something About Eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to any of you that are actually reading this.

Connor might have been one of the few morning people in the world. Though one would suppose being an android was the reason why, he would be the first to say it was because he enjoyed going on morning walks with Hank and Sumo. He took the time to think about the previous day and organize information in his head. What he especially loved doing was talking to Hank about feelings and learning more about being a person.

Unlike Connor, if there was no reason for Hank to get up before noon, he wouldn’t. If he had his druthers, he would still be in bed and barely opening his eyes to the new day. Yet, Hank was up walking with Connor and Sumo in the early hours of the morning at Connor’s insistence. Connor knew Hank wouldn’t say no. Hank liked indulging Connor in their talks and honestly missed the feeling of wanting to do anything for your kid.

“What do you want to talk about?” Hank asked.

“What makes you think I want to talk about anything?” Connor said.

“You always want to spill your guts to me with these damn morning walks. We’re almost home, and you haven’t said a thing.”

“Or we’re out here because I remembered that your doctor recommended you get more exercise.”

Hank spat on the ground.

“I’m getting enough exercise,” Hank said.

“Urban Farms of Detroit,” Connor said.

“Fuck, are you always going to mention that place when it comes to me and exercise? I eventually caught up to you guys. I just can’t help it that you’re in better shape than me and can jump onto moving trains.”

“I think Eve could jump onto a moving train.”

Hank stopped and pulled Sumo back. Connor turned around when he noticed Hank standing there confused.

“Who the fuck is Eve?” Hank asked.

“Detective Eve Park. She’s my new partner. The one you didn’t meet yesterday,” Connor said.

“Some of us couldn’t make it to the office- for reasons.”

“You could have stopped in just to meet her.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ll eventually see her. So, what do you think about her?”

Connor placed his hands in his pockets. He looked off to the side, thinking about what to say about Eve. He liked her in as much as anyone could really like a person they had just met. He gathered that Hank would probably like Eve as well. No nonsense people really like to stick together after all, Connor thought.

“I don’t know, but I think Detective Reed is interested in Eve,” Connor said.

“Reed? She must be very attractive. He’s the kind of asshole that says he only sleeps with 10s.”

“He didn’t say that to her, but his body language indicated his interest in her was purely sexual. It’s entirely one-sided though.”

“Heh, serves him right. Do you think she’s pretty?”

“Her face is very symmetrical.”

“I didn’t ask that. I asked you if you think she’s attractive.”

“I think she’s-”

Connor didn’t want to say it, but there was something about Eve that he couldn’t get out of his head. He had felt a shock in his body when Eve had turned around to look at him in Fowler’s office when they first met, and it left him bewildered that he couldn’t quite figure out the feeling he experienced. He meant to ask Hank about it, but analysis indicated a strong chance Hank would laugh at him.

“I can’t tell you yet,” Connor said.

“What kind of bullshit answer is that Connor?” Hank said.

Sumo barked in agreement. Connor resented that. Betrayed by Sumo? That was the worst kind of betrayal.

“I have processed every scenario with each answer I could give you and found that whatever I have to say about this will guarantee a flippant remark from you. So, I would rather not say it,” Connor said.

Hank scratched his head and slowly nodded. “Eh. So that’s how it is.”

“How what is?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

When Hank and Connor approached their house, they saw a lime green car parked across from their house. Connor’s eyes immediately drew to the woman leaning on the car. Eve Park looked ready for the day in her high waisted jeans that nipped at her waist, a tucked in black turtleneck, and a rust colored windbreaker with the sleeves pushed up her forearms. She waved at Connor.

“I’m going to guess that’s Eve,” Hank said.

“Yeah,” Connor said.

“Heh.” Hank slapped Connor’s back. “Let’s say hi to Detective Park.”

Eve ran up to Hank and Connor. She stooped down to pet Sumo. Sumo made an appreciative growl as she scratched behind his ears.

“You like the scratchies Sumo?” Eve said. She looked up at Connor and flashed a brilliant smile. “Sorry, a case just came in, and I thought I’d track you down instead of waiting.”

Eve stood up and brushed her hands on her jeans. She offered a hand to Hank.

“You must be Lieutenant Hank Anderson. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Eve Park, the new detective at Central,” Eve said.

“Just call me Hank. Nice to meet you. You know Connor was just about to tell me something about you,” Hank said. There was a mischievous smile on Hank’s face.

“I was only going to say that you had an impressive record at the Chicago Police Department,” Connor said.

“Oh- that? It’s nothing. I was just doing my job,” Eve said.

“I heard you could jump onto a moving train,” Hank said.

Eve shrugged. “I don’t know? How fast is the train going and where am I jumping from? There is a lot of information about this hypothetical situation that I don’t know.”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Connor?”

Hank looked at Connor. Normally, Connor would have given Eve the parameters for which she would succeed in this scenario, but his mind was blanking. There was no reason why he wouldn’t have been able to perform this simple calculation, he thought. He noticed that his thirium regulator was on the fritz and making the thirium in his body pump faster than it ever needed to. His systems were starting to overheat, and he hadn’t done anything. Connor ran multiple diagnostics, each proving that he was perfectly fine. Nothing about this felt fine.

“You okay there?” Eve asked.

“Yes, thanks for asking. Eve, would you like to come in for some coffee? I hope you don’t mind if I get a change of clothes before we go out,” Connor said as he aired out his Detroit Police Department sweatshirt despite the fact he never sweated and fanning himself would do little to relieve the overheating in his systems.

“Sure, the body is already cold. So a couple minutes doesn’t hurt. Plus if I get to hang out with Sumo, then I say it’s a good deal. Right Sumo? You’re just a good boy,” Eve said as she petted Sumo some more.

Connor smiled.  _ Likes dogs _ , he noted. He rushed up to the front door and opened it for Eve. Hank elbowed Connor on his way in, grumbling something about Eve. As Eve approached the house, she peered in before stepping inside.

“Cozy, huh?” Eve said.

“It’s appropriate for the three of us,” Connor said as he came in and shut the door.

“Oh, should I take off my shoes? You know what. I’m just going to take off my shoes. I don’t want to track anything.” Eve removed her worn out white plimsoll sneakers and placed them by the door. This revealed that she wore ankle socks that had cats chasing balls of yarn on them.

“Your socks are interesting,” Connor said.

“Thanks. They’re a gift.”

“Do you like cats?”

“Yeah. They’re my kind of animal.”

_Likes cats. More than dogs? Maybe likes animals in general. Insufficient information to draw conclusion._ _Should I ask her about other animals? No, I should ask if she has a cat. Appropriate question to ask._ Connor thought.

“So what about you?” Eve asked.

“I like cats. Hank won’t let me get one though. He says this is a dog family.” Connor frowned a little.

Eve shrugged. “Hank’s loss.”

“Do you have a cat?” Connor asked.

“Yeah, her name is Sergeant Tibbs.”

“Is that after anyone you know?”

“No. That’s the only cat in 101 Dalmatians.”

Eve stopped at the bookshelf decorated with pictures and tchotchkes. She stared at one picture of him and Sumo and pointed at it.

“You have this picture hanging up at your desk,” Eve said.

“Hank likes getting physical pictures in duplicate if he can,” Connor said.

“Yeah, it looks like Hank really likes analog items. He’s probably one of the last people to own a physical book.” Eve plucked a book from the shelf. She thumbed through the pages and read through the hastily written notes on the margins. She showed off the book to Connor, a tattered copy of  _ On the Road.  _ “I don’t know much about Hank, but from what everyone told me yesterday, this isn’t much of a surprise.”

Connor took the book from Eve’s hands and placed it back on the shelf. “Have you read it?”

“Yeah, once when I was in college. Cute picture, by the way.” Eve pointed at a picture behind her of Connor in his dress uniform. She took the picture off the shelf and studied it.

“Was this when you made detective?” Eve asked.

“Yes,” Connor said.

“That uniform suits you.” She placed the photo back onto the shelf. She looked at each photo and piece and asked Connor all sorts of questions. She was certainly one of most inquisitive people he had met, and it was probably one of many reasons why she made a good detective.

Hank emerged from the kitchen with a mug of coffee and shoved it into Eve’s face. She happily took the mug and started to sip on the coffee. Connor’s gaze fell upon the coral pink lipstick stain left on the rim. She pursed her lips, trying to spread whatever was left of her perfect application of lipstick.

“Hey kiddo, I thought you needed to get dressed,” Hank said.

Connor had never been more grateful for Hank’s interference. He took his cue to run off to his bedroom before Eve asked any more questions about every picture in the house or think about Eve’s mouth. He opened his closet and pulled out a shirt, blazer, and jeans. He toyed around with whether or not he should wear a tie before opting not to. He was running late as is, and he calculated, that while the amount of time to tie his tie was negligible, that he also felt like the seconds mattered. He didn’t want Eve waiting any more than she was.

After he got dressed, Connor went back to the living room to find Eve sitting down on the floor giving Sumo a belly rub and Hank sitting in front of the TV drinking his coffee. Eve looked up.

“Hey, you missed a button,” Eve said.

Hank turned his head. “She’s right. Did you get dressed in the dark?”

“No.” Connor turned around to quickly button his shirt back up. When he turned back, Eve was already standing up and ready to go.

“You good this time?” She asked.

“I believe so.”

Hank laughed to himself. Connor didn’t understand Hank’s deal today. He only knew that Hank was having too much fun at his expense.

“Have fun kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” Hank said.

“Will I see you at the station later?” Connor asked.

Hank snorted. “Maybe. Now get the fuck out of here. You have a case to solve.”

“Nice meeting you, Hank,” Eve said, waving goodbye.

Eve’s car was vintage like Hank’s, an old gas guzzling car modified to consume biofuels. Connor’s analysis came back that the car was a 1974 Toyota Celica. Almost everything in the car was operated manually. So Eve had to unlock the door for Connor. He sat down and started to make his assessments. Eve kept a fairly tidy car. The only things in her car were two crates in the backseat that Connor assumed was related to her moving. The car’s decor was largely beige with the exception of an updated stereo system and an air freshener with a cartoon cat design that Connor simply classified as “adorable”. Connor would also note that the air freshener had long lost its scent and most likely was kept for sentimental purposes.

Eve turned up the music in her car and started to drive. Unlike Hank, Eve’s choice in music was certainly happier and less angry. Simply put, Eve appeared to have a soft spot for pop music. When Connor reached the stereo to view the artist, Eve instinctually swatted his hand away.

“If you’re driving, you get to choose the music,” Eve said.

“I just wanted to know the artist,” Connor said.

“Oh? It’s- uh- Carly Rae Jepsen. Don’t judge me.” Eve tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

“I’m not. It’s nice to listen to music like this. You might have already figured this out, but Hank doesn’t listen to this kind of music. He mainly listens to heavy metal and punk music when we go out.”

Eve cocked her head to the side and snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I like this music. It’s very catchy. I’m still getting used to listening to music. So it’s nice to listen to something different,” Connor said.

“Well you’re welcome because this song is the fucking best. It begins with a saxophone solo, which is the best way to start a song. So count yourself as lucky because you, sir, are going to learn a lot about the selected discography of Carly Rae Jepsen today.”

Connor leaned back in his seat and laughed. He liked this particular side of Eve. Eve was still a complete mystery to him. She buffed his attempts to get to know her yesterday. The only thing he really knew about her, he gleaned from Chicago Police Department records. Even those records were strange. Large amounts of information had been redacted, and her last case was totally sealed off. The story was all the same though- Eve Park solved a large amount of android crimes prior to the android revolution and had a knack for drawing confessions from deviants, a feat that seemed impossible for anyone that wasn’t Connor. If CyberLife hadn’t been based in Detroit, they were going to send a RK800 android to Chicago to work with Eve first.

“Are you ready for this case?”Connor asked.

“I’m going to be fine. I’ve seen enough dead bodies- human and android. I’d be more surprised if I woke up with my face glued to the floor,” Eve said.

“That’s- an interesting choice of words.”

Eve shrugged. “It’s true. Also I took a Xanax early this morning, and I read the case file five times before I got to your house. So I know almost everything there is to know about this case.”

The car sped onto their destination. Connor decided to read through the case file and calculate their success rate. Factoring what Eve told him just then, he gathered their success rate went up by 5%. This case was going to be interesting. Call it a feeling, Connor thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Parents just know things, Connor.  
> \- The song that's playing in the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeccAtqd5K8  
> \- Just a warning for next chapter, while I did rate this explicit because there will be smut, the rating is probably more going to be attributed to the violence and graphic nature of the crimes that are described.


	3. Drawn to the Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still all the shoutouts to any of you reading this. This chapter was hard for me to write in many ways- so bear with me. I swear this gets better.
> 
> Also, warning, this chapter is rather graphic when it comes to describing the crime. Don't ask me why/how this came out of my brain. It just did.

Crime scenes were crime scenes, just as Eve said. When Connor and Eve showed up to the shell of a house that was this crime scene, Connor was reminded of his first case with Hank. He recalled that it was dark and rainy that night at Carlos Ortiz’s home. Today was a rather balmy day full of sunshine, and the way Eve carried herself was to a degree of professionalism that would make the best officer seem like a slacker. Looking back at it, things shouldn’t have turned out the way they did with Hank.

Unlike a majority of the cases Connor received, this was the first case he had where the victim was an android. The Android Civil Rights Act demanded the need to investigate crimes against androids, but crimes against androids still went largely unreported. The fact that a neighbor had reported suspicious behavior must have meant something. In a poor neighborhood ravaged with high unemployment, drug use, and crime, no one was about to stick their neck out for an android.

“You’re here,” Officer Chris Miller said as Connor and Eve stepped into the house.

“Has anything changed since the initial report?” Eve asked.

“No. We’re still having forensics gather evidence, but you’re more than welcome to head over there though.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that then.” Eve said before leaving Connor with Chris.

Chris raised an eyebrow and turned to Connor.

“So how do you like your new partner?” Chris asked.

“Why is everyone asking me that?” Connor said.

“She’s your first partner that is not your dad. So, we’re all just curious.”

“Well, I don’t know quite yet. This is our first investigation together.”

“You mean you didn’t notice anything else about her at all when you met her? You literally spent all day yesterday sitting across from each other.”

Chris was one of the few people Connor would say was his friend outside of Hank. After the revolution, Connor didn’t see the point of pretending that he actually made friends with any of the androids involved from Jericho. He occasionally kept in touch with Markus, but he was nothing more than an acquaintance. Connor felt most comfortable amongst the people at the Detroit Police Department. Chris had been one of the first people to really welcome Connor back to the force. He had always been friendly to Connor prior to him turning deviant, but now Connor could enjoy Chris’s company.

“Not all day. Just 65% of my day at work,” Connor said.

“This is why you never bring up the word literally to an android,” Chris said.

“I still don’t know her well enough to say.”

“Fine. Give it some time then. Oh, by the way, Yasmin asked if you were coming over to dinner this Friday.”

“Yeah, that was the plan. Hank will be there too, of course.”

“Yasmin already knows to make enough for Hank. Damian is going to be excited. He loves Con-Con.”

“I will remind you again that Connor and ‘Con-Con’ have the same amount of syllables.”

“He’s like 15 months! Give him a break!”

“I wasn’t blaming Damian. You were the one who came up with that nickname.”

Eve poked her head around the corner. “Are you coming or not?”

“Yes, sorry about that,” Connor said.

“You heard her. Get to the crime scene.” Chris could barely contain his laughter.

Connor followed Eve to examine the victim in the suspect’s bedroom. The victim was mangled beyond identification for any human to tell what kind of android she was. The victim’s eyes had been gouged out, and the base of her skull had been smashed into the headboard. The bed was completely soaked in thirium. Connor could smell it in the air, something similar to iron but with a sort of chemical, plasticky smell. Her clothes had been ripped apart, almost clawed from what Connor gathered. The synthetic skin on her skull had completely peeled away, revealing the serial number etched on her cheek.

“This is an AX400 model with some modifications,” Connor said. “If you look here, she’s had some parts installed.”

Connor pointed to fine lines on the plastic above the android’s genitals. The plastic below the lines was newer than the rest the victim’s body, but it was nothing easily identified by a human eye.

“Most androids do not come equipped with genitals, and this is the work of a CyberLife facility. The plastic is almost a match, but upon inspection you see that the bulk of the body is made of older plastic. It’s very impressive workmanship. The costs to get that kind of work done by CyberLife is rather expensive though. I don’t think the kind of person that would be seen in a house like this could afford it,” Connor said.

“I see. Let’s see if we can identify her. We should check if she has anything like a purse or wallet,” Eve said.

“Over here.”

Connor crouched down and opened an expensive leather bag, which his analysis showed to be a vintage Hermès Birkin bag. He emptied the contents onto the ground. There were a few personal items like a couple tubes of lipstick and a bottle of perfume. Connor picked up a wallet and pulled out an identification card.

“Aria Tyrell, if you believe this. It’s a fake ID though,” Connor said.

“Most definitely not her real name if she ever had one,” Eve said before waving someone from forensics to her. “Can I get some gloves here?”

A member of the forensics team fetched Eve a pair of gloves. Eve snapped them on and kneeled beside Connor. She spread the contents of the bag more evenly across the floor.

“Something wrong?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but this bag is incredibly expensive. Everything in this bag is expensive. You said she had official CyberLife work done, which is also expensive. I don’t think she’s just any android. I know her skull is badly damaged, but do you think it’s still possible to probe her?” Eve said.

“I wouldn’t be able to maintain a stable connection, and it wouldn’t be for more than a minute.”

“I think whatever information we can get is going to be beneficial at this point.”

“Then I’ll proceed.”

Connor reached for the android’s temple. He could see Eve observing him as his plastic fingers made contact with the dead android. The first shocks of memory reached Connor in fragments. None of the memories from just prior to her death were available. Instead, the only memories that Connor could grasp were of her beneath or on top of people that Connor identified as being some of the richest and most powerful people in Detroit. In her memory, these people were filed under aliases, each entry listing various sexual likes and dislikes.

“She was… an escort,” Connor said as he withdrew his hand.

“That makes sense. Any other information?” Eve asked.

“Unfortunately, anything that happened right before she was murdered was destroyed. All I know is that I don’t think our suspect could afford her services. Kyle Mullins. Born March 24, 2004. His record shows he has been in and out of prison. And the times where he hasn’t been in prison show that he has largely been unemployed. The only reason he lives in this house is because he inherited it.”

There was a spark in Eve’s eyes. When Connor looked over at her, she looked like she was placing all the pieces together. If she were an android, her LED would have been firing off yellow. She got up and pointed to the door.

“I’m going to investigate some of the other rooms here. We can cover more area that way. I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Eve said as she walked backwards.

Working on an investigation by himself was nothing new for Connor. He hadn’t expected Eve to be as hands on as she was, and it was a new experience to work with someone who searched for as many answers as Eve did. Not that Hank was a bad detective. Eve was just a different kind of detective.

In the quiet of the crime scene, he could take his time to run the analysis he didn’t do with Eve. Connor went to check on the body again. When he turned over Aria’s limbs, he noticed that a symbol had been etched into her left wrist. It was nothing that matched any database. He dipped his fingers into the thirium and tested it. The results indicated an AX400 model as he expected but also returned the DNA results of the suspect. Connor stepped back and looked at the foot of the bed. One of the posts had a bloody handprint on it. The fingerprints matched the suspects. Instinctually, he reached out and swabbed some blood to test.

“What are you doing?” Eve asked.

Connor stopped and quickly removed his fingers from his mouth. He closed his eyes, not wanting to catch the look of disgust that was probably on Eve’s face.

“I can run samples in real time. Sorry, I know it makes some people uncomfortable. So if you would like me not to do this in front of you-“ Connor said.

“Is it possible for you to run toxicology on that blood?” Eve asked.

Connor was surprised. In all the investigations he had conducted before, Hank had never asked him to run analysis on anything. He was disturbed at how Connor looked like when he collected samples. So Connor always collected samples when Hank wasn’t looking. Now he felt so self-conscious as Eve watched him lick the sample.

“There is trace amounts of cocaine and Red Ice, but largely I found methylenedioxypyrovalerone- most commonly known as MDPV,” Connor said.

“Bath salts,” Eve said.

Eve signaled to Connor to follow her. She lead him to the bathroom and pointed to the sink. An open package of creamy colored crystals had been spilled on the basin and tiled floor.

“Bath salts. It’s a pretty old fashioned drug but easier to access than Red Ice and under way less scrutiny,” Eve said.

“That fits the profile of the suspect. He was convicted of a felony, intent to manufacture and distribute an illicit substance,” Connor said.

“And he’s still dealing judging by how much of that stuff is around here. I found more in the closet and a stack of bills.”

Connor and Eve left the bathroom. Eve leaned against the wall and folded her arms.

“A high end prostitute walks into a small time drug dealer’s home. Now what?” Eve said.

“His blood was on the bed. So he’s injured. I didn’t find a weapon though, but I can still attempt to reconstruct what happened,” Connor said before his LED started to blink yellow. “Follow me.”

The two went back to the room. Connor stood in front of the bed.

“Neighbors reported that they heard people arguing next door. So sometime last night, Aria and Kyle were engaged in an argument. At one point she is provoked enough to attack him with a sharp object. She cuts him on his right palm, and he immediately grabs Aria’s left forearm with that same cut hand and proceeds to force her onto this bed. She struggles, and then he takes her by the head. Then he smashes her head so hard against this headrest that he completely cracks her skull open and gauges her eyes out. At some point, he took the weapon that injured him and carved this symbol into the victim’s arm. Analysis hasn’t come back with any results for what that symbols means yet,” Connor said.

“He probably still has that weapon. Well, we have to find this guy. You said he’s injured? There has to be more blood than handprint,” Eve said.

“Since you mentioned that…”

Connor pointed to smalls drips of blood on the floor. “Over here. There’s a trail.”

The spots of blood led to the kitchen sink. Dried blood spots were sprinkled over a towel.

“He made some effort to stop the bleeding. Though the effectiveness of that is debatable as he most likely used an old kitchen towel,” Connor said. 

“I’m glad you’re concerned for our suspect’s risk of infection,” Eve said.

“I detect some sarcasm in your voice, Eve.”

“Do you now?” Eve smirked and folded her arms. “I’m going to guess he left through that kitchen door.”

Connor made quick work of analyzing the door. Remnants of blood were still on the handle. The fingerprints matched Kyle’s. “I would say you’re right.”

He opened the door for Eve. She slipped by and waited around for him. They walked through worn grass that looked more yellow and brown than green. Connor spotted a set of footprints leading to a pile of busted lawn furniture and old shed leaning against a wooden fence. Traces of soil were found on the fence matching the shape of a men’s size 11 shoe.

“He climbed over this fence,” Connor said.

“Okay,” Eve said before she started to climb onto the lawn furniture.

“Wait!”

With cat-like athleticism, Eve leapt from the plastic lawn chairs to the roof of the shed and pulled herself up onto the shed. She would definitely be able to jump onto a moving train, Connor thought. Connor followed her onto the shed. Eve then vaulted over the fence. Before she could make another move, Connor climbed over the fence and landed on his feet.  As he started to get up, he noticed a large man passed out on the lawn. Connor’s facial recognition software identified this man as Kyle Mullins.

“Eve, I think we’ve found our suspect,” Connor said.

“I’ll call for Officer Miller,” Eve said.

Chris and one of the police androids came back with a car for the suspect. Wearily, they woke up Kyle and backed away from him. The suspect opened his eyes and started to sit up.

“Kyle,” Connor said. “I’m with the Detroit Police Department. We have some questions for you about the murder of Aria Tyrell.”

Kyle shook his head as if he were trying to shake everything out of his body to clear his mind. He breathed heavily as if he had just ran a marathon and hadn’t been passed out just moments before.

“Who?” Kyle said.

“Aria Tyrell, the android that was at your home last night,” Connor said.

“That plastic bitch! She tried to cheat me! I didn’t kill her! I didn’t do it!” Kyle flailed his arms and pushed Connor aside.

“Chris, detain this man now,” Connor said as he scrambled to his feet.

As Chris brought out the handcuffs, Kyle shoved Chris to the ground and made a run for it. Connor reached for his gun, but Eve dashed past him for Kyle. Despite her slight frame, she body slammed Kyle to the ground. With one hand, she pressed his neck to the ground as she straddled him and slapped a handcuff on one of his hands. She yanked the handcuffed arm to reach the other arm and caught his wrist with the other handcuff.

“I have so many things to say about this,” Chris said as Connor pulled him back up.

Connor glanced back and stared at Eve while she got up. She was pulling her shirt down and tucking it back into her jeans. She then turned around and brushed her backside. As he watched her tidy up, he remembered what he had felt when he saw Eve for the first time. He had tried to piece together what it was at the time. Now lightning struck, and he finally understood. Normal programming told Connor that Eve was an objectively attractive person based off symmetrical features. Deviancy? Deviancy made him notice the way Eve’s ass looked like in those tight jeans and short circuited him when he watched her bite her lips. It felt like the first time he ever wanted anything.

“Connor, something up? You’re, uh, not looking great. Your LED is red,”Chris said.

“Chris, I think I-” Connor said. He reached out for his LED.

“What’s going on?”

“I think I might be attracted to Detective Park.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh sorry. I feel like I should clarify some things. I wanted to hint from the beginning that Connor is attracted to Eve. That's something new that he is not used to and therefore isn't sure about what it is he's experiencing... instead I'm just being not subtle. Connor's got the hots for Eve. Deal with it.


	4. Call Me Definitely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much love to any of you that are reading this.
> 
> Also many apologies that I didn't update this yesterday (but I was super tired after work and working out that I basically passed out when I got home). The little added thing at the end is my "let me make that up to you".

The sound of awkward silence was irritating to Eve. Even with music playing in the car, the fact that no one was talking seemed excruciating. The car ride back to the station could at best be described as weird and unbearable at worst. Eve didn’t know what transpired with Connor in the time between her picking him up from his house to after capturing Kyle Mullins, but it was pissing her off. He hadn’t said a word the entire ride, and that included her unnecessarily asking him if it was okay to that she stop and get gas because it bothered her to have to be at less than a quarter of a tank of gas. In her limited time with Connor, she figured this was unnatural for him. He always seemed to be talking or doing something as if he would cease to function if he stopped doing anything. If there was such a thing as android Xanax, Eve would give it all to Connor right now.

Eve turned the music up. She patted her hands on the steering wheel and mouthed the lyrics before she worked up the courage to start singing along.

“ _ I’ve been denying how I feel. You’ve been denying what you want. You want from me, talk to me baby _ .” Eve started to sing. She could feel Connor’s stare. “Okay, so maybe my dreams of being in a K-pop girl group were dashed away at an early age, but I can relatively hold a tune.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Connor said.

“But something is up. Are you okay?” Eve asked.

Connor fidgeted in his seat a little. He reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He flipped it into the air, each time catching the coin between his index and middle finger before rolling the quarter across his fingers and repeating the process again.

“I am,” Connor said.

“Did you run a diagnostic?” Eve asked.

“Ten in last two minutes, and I just recalibrated.”

“Well, that’s a little excessive.”

“It was necessary, but I am fine.”

“Okay? I think you are lying but whatever.”

“And you know this because?”

“We’re detectives. It’s our job to figure out the truth and when someone is bullshitting you. You are lying. Also if I wasn’t driving, I would just look at your LED. Just because you’re deviant, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work any more” Eve wagged her finger at Connor, pointing approximately to his forehead. “As long as you continue to wear that and whatever is going on in your mind is contradictory to your code, it will show up as red. That or if you’re processing absurd amounts of information at a given time. I think it’s like what 30 zettabytes? That’s like the max most biocomponents will process at a time.”

Connor covered up his forehead. “You know a bit about androids.”

“Not really.”

“You’re lying now.”

“You got me. I'm secretly a super genius when it comes to androids.” Eve rolled her eyes. "Nah, I just read a lot."

Eve cracked a smile. She pulled into the Central Station parking lot, glad to have avoided any conversation about what she did or did not know about androids. There were things that were better left unsaid. Eve reminded herself not to get so careless in front of Connor. He didn’t need to know about the past.

Once at the station, Eve and Connor walked to the observation room. Hank was already waiting for them, coffee in one hand and a powdered donut in the other. He swiveled the chair and nodded at them.

“Hey, what took you two so long? Did Connor drive?” Hank said.

“I did. I’m the only person who drives my car, and hell will freeze over before anyone else drives it,” Eve said.

“So why were you two so slow in getting back? You two up to something not work related?” Hank wiggled his eyebrows.

“Hank, Eve required fuel for her vehicle. That is why we were not at the station at the same time the suspect arrived,” Connor said as he stood behind Hank.

“Well, it game time to read all the shit you mentioned. So I know enough of what’s going on.”

Eve leaned against the window and pointed her thumb at the suspect.

“Which one of us is going to interrogate him?” Eve asked.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you two to figure it out,” Hank said.

“Rock paper scissors this?” Eve said.

“What?” Connor said.

“Rock paper scissors. It’s a game.”

Connor folded his arms. There was a blip of yellow in his LED before returning to blue.

“I understand,” Connor said.

“Best of three? Winner gets to decide if they interrogate or not,” Eve said.

“Agreed. In the videos that I reviewed, people either counted out prior to revealing their choices or they just revealed their choices. Since I do not have a preference in this, do you?”

“I’m a count to three kind of person, and you definitely have to that thing.” Eve pounded her fist on her hand.

“Understood. Ready?”

Eve stood directly in front of Connor and made a fist. Connor mimicked her. Hank just leaned back in his chair and groaned. He declared that he was an adult surrounded by toddlers.

“Okay, 가위, 바위, 보!” Eve said.

In a flash, Connor threw down his fist, and Eve threw down her flat hand. She jumped up and clenched her fist in victory.

“Yes!” Eve said.

Connor pointed at her. “You’re not allowed to distract me by calling out rock-paper-scissors in a different language.”

“You understood what I was saying.”

“Yes, but that’s not the point.”

“I’m using my skills to my advantage. I can’t help it that I said it in the first language I learned.”

“You’re distracting me. Please add to the rules that you cannot call out rock-paper-scissors in a random language as a means for distraction.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Hank sighed and whispered to himself. “Jesus fucking Christ. I did not wake up this morning to watch this shit.”

As Connor won the second round, Hank proceeded to get up from his chair, dust off the powdered sugar from his beard, and enter the interrogation room. He shook his head. Anyone outside of the observation room would note that Hank was muttering something about needing a room.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

“Okay, we’ve established I can’t call out in different languages and you can’t do whatever the fuck it was that you did,” Eve said.

“I was only taking advantage of my superior reaction time,” Connor said. 

“It still sounds like cheating to me. You literally waited milliseconds after me to make your move.”

“-And when did you meet the victim?” Hank said from the other room.

Eve and Connor rushed to the mirror and seethed as Hank calmly proceeded to interrogate a disoriented Kyle Mullins. Eve slapped her hands against the glass.

“That bastard! No offense,” Eve said as she looked over to Connor. 

“It’s okay. He freely admits to being one,” Connor said.

Eve slid her hands back to her sides and watched the interrogation. In the dark of the observation room, everything felt quieter and more secluded. For Eve, it felt like the right time to hash things out with Connor. She had been meaning to stop being weird and just ask him about things.

In her head, Eve had already come to the worst conclusion. She never had a partner at the Chicago Police Department. There were not so subtle reports that indicated she didn’t work the best with other officers. They all said she was too bossy or asked way too many questions. She wondered if Connor found that out too and if he agreed. It was one of her nightmare scenarios. She asked her therapist about it so many times that she convinced herself that even her therapist thought she was difficult to work with.

“What was up with you in the car? Just spell it out with me. If you don’t want to work with me, I get it. I haven’t actually had a partner before,” Eve said.

“I don’t have an issue with you,” Connor said.

Eve concentrated on Connor’s profile. He was engrossed with the interrogation, and she knew he probably wasn’t interested in talking with her. But she wanted to press on. She needed an answer.

“Was it how I investigate? Look, I know I’m fairly aggressive when it comes to investigation. That’s my style. I try to be as thorough as possible. Well I mean in comparison to an android that may not actually be a lot,” Eve said.

“No. Your style is fairly complimentary to mine. So that isn’t an issue,” Connor said.

“Was it the arrest? Look I saw you were going to pull your gun, and I didn’t want to do that. I know it was reckless but tackling the suspect seemed like a reasonable option at the time,” Eve said.

“I- I actually thought you were cool at the time,” Connor said. He turned towards Eve and smiled. He then faced back to the mirror. “I have some personal things to sort out. That was the deal. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Okay. Don’t freak me out like that. I’m new to this whole thing.” Eve gestured between the two of them.

“So I’m your first partner?”

“First ever.”

“Then I’m your best partner.”

“Only by default.” Eve nudged Connor in the arm. Connor laughed, to Eve’s delight.

Feeling better, Eve went back to watching Hank. Just as when they captured Kyle, he reiterated the same thing about not killing Aria. He was on the verge of tears each time he said it. The insistence left a knot in Eve’s stomach. It had been so long since her first case that she felt like it was possible to have made a mistake.

“How did you know the victim?” Hank asked.

“I didn’t. She just fucking called me,” Kyle said.

“How did she get your number if you didn’t know her?”

“She got it from someone else. That’s how everyone gets my number. Look, I didn’t know her, and I didn’t kill her.”

Eve cocked her head to the side and tapped on the glass.

“If he keeps insisting he didn’t do it, Hank’s going to get nowhere fast,” Eve said.

“He needs to corner him on the drug dealing,” Connor said. “It’ll keep him in holding.”

“If you didn’t kill Aria Tyrell, who killed her?” Hank asked.

“It was this android. He came with her,” Kyle said.

“Can you describe the android?”

“I don’t know. This one didn’t have no fucking skin on it. How am I supposed to fucking know?”

“No skin?”

“Yeah it was just the plastic shit.”

“I see. Why was this other android with her?”

“Said it was for protection or something. I don’t know. I don’t fucking know. They were only there to-”

Kyle stopped before he could say anything else. Hank tapped the file folder on the interrogation table.

“Why were they there to see you?” Hank asked.

“Nothing. No reason,” Kyle said.

“So, they were just dropping into the neighborhood? Kyle, you’re going to have to do better than that. That girl was murdered.”

Kyle huffed and balled his hands.

“They were there to buy stuff from me,” Kyle said. His eyes shifting.

“You’re going to need to be specific. What was the victim trying to purchase from you?” Hank asked.

“You already fucking know!”

“Do I? You just said stuff. Stuff could be anything.” Hank lifted an eyebrow.

“Drugs. They were there to buy drugs. Fucking hell.”

“Thanks for your co-op-er-ation. Chris, could you get this guy back in holding?” Hank looked back at at the mirror and nodded back to Eve and Connor.

Connor sat down and rested his head on his hand. Eve sat beside him, watching Chris take the suspect back into holding.

“There’s nothing to say another android was there. That thirium was hers, and the blood was the suspect’s. The only data from Tyrell is of her clients. So we have no proof of another android besides what Kyle says,” Connor said.

“Well, he’s either obviously lying or that android is just that stealthy,” Eve said.

“It’s a possibility, but it’s easily the least likely to be true. The evidence points to Kyle.”

“I want to know the truth.”

Hank opened the door.

“You two work shit out?” Hank said.

“Yes,” Connor said.

“Cool, you two ought to find this contact and more info about the victim. Get down to it.”

“Okay Dad.” Connor drew out the last syllable in such a way that had Hank giving him a side eye.

“Hey, I will not tolerate you sassing me, son.” Hank wagged his finger at Connor before flipping him off and shutting the door.

“He’s right. We need to figure out who got Aria to Kyle. See if they know anything about her or if she was around another android,” Eve said.

“I’ll take a look at Aria’s contacts again. We may have missed something”

“Sounds like a plan. Oh, I should probably get your number,” Eve pulled out her phone, ready to type away. Connor reached out and held her phone, letting the synthetic skin around his fingers disappear. 

“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy. But here’s my number. So call me maybe.” Connor winked at Eve. She looked down at her phone and saw his contact information. Then she beamed at Connor.

“Did you just quote Carly Rae Jepsen to me?” Eve said.

“I might have researched that in the car earlier.”

“You might legitimately be the best partner.”

 

* * *

 

_ Later That Day _

 

“ _ Where you think you’re goin’ baby? Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But here’s my number. So call me maybe _ .”

Connor sang to himself quietly while typing out his report. He didn’t expect the song to stick with him as long as it did, but his systems reported that he wasn’t suffering from any malfunctions. So Connor figured that he might actually like the song. He made a note that he would listen to the rest of Carly Rae Jepsen’s discography as a possible conversation topic with Eve, and he genuinely looked forward to listening to that. Maybe Eve would even be impressed with him and his newfound appreciation of pop music.

Hank felt otherwise. He approached Connor’s desk and slammed his coffee mug on the desk.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Hank asked.

“I’m writing a report,” Connor said.

“No, I’m talking about the other thing.”

“Singing?”

“Yeah, you weren’t just singing any song though.”

“Oh, Eve was playing music by the artist Carly Rae Jepsen. I found that the song ‘Call Me Maybe’ was the song she was most well known for and-”

“Well stop it. I got that song out of my head in 2011, and I’d like it to stay out of my head. You’re doing a good job not doing that.”

“- _ All the other boys try and chase me. But here’s my number. So call me maybe. _ ”

“CONNOR!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- You better believe that Eve kept her promise to keep playing Carly Rae Jepsen for Connor. Eve is singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlsu7RhOnsQ
> 
> \- 가위, 바위, 보 = ga-we, ba-we, bo = rock-paper-scissor in Korean (literally it's scissors, rock, and paper)
> 
> \- I feel like I haven't explicitly mentioned this in the story, but Eve is Korean. It will definitely be talked about more in the next couple chapters.
> 
> \- I'm going to have way more Connor and Eve acting like total dorks with each other moments in this fic. Just a warning.


	5. With Friends Like These

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, many thanks to any of you that are reading this. You're the real MVP.

Gabi Lopez was the only person who would confidently say she was Eve Park’s friend. At 5 feet and 1 inch, Gabi steamrolled over everyone as if she were the tallest person in the room. She knew Eve since grade school; and after going to school at Michigan State, she decided to stick around Michigan and join her generation in the revitalization of Detroit. Eve liked to describe her as the most fearless person she had ever known, and that’s why Gabi made a great cop.

“I hope you didn’t tell anyone at work where you lived. Almost everyone is going to think you were some corrupt Chicago cop taking money under the table from the mob or something,” Gabi said as she pointed up to the high rise Eve moved into.

“I would never tell anyone where I live. Gabi, if there’s anything you about  me, I hate the thought of anyone actually knowing me outside of work. Now come on, these are my last boxes,” Eve said.

Truthfully, Eve had a feeling that someone already knew where she lived. If anyone knew where she lived, it would have been Connor. The other day, Hank had told her the story of how he met Connor and how Connor broke into his house once before Connor lived there. She already suspected that he knew much more about her than he let on, but he never made mention of it.

“Are you kidding me? This box is so heavy, Eve. Why don’t you hire movers?” Gabi said as she grabbed one of crates from the back of Eve’s car.

“This builds character. Also there are some things in that box that I can’t have movers knowing about,” Eve said as she took the other box.

“They’re not supposed to look at your stuff.”

“I know, but the wrong person is going to get curious. Then I’m going to be investigated by the FBI or something. It’s almost as bad as the corrupt cop thing.”

“Almost. Do I even want to know what is going on with these boxes?”

“I’ll explain it later.”

“You know what? I’ll just think about it as fun, in a sort of illegal way. You know, us moving boxes in the middle of the night.”

“I’ve been working on this android murder case for a week, and this was the first night I actually got to go home in a time that you were coincidentally also up at. You can thank my partner for that. He told me to go home. Also he said it looked like I was going to pass out.”

“Did you?”

“No. He just worries a lot.”

“Aw, he’s like the mom you never had.”

“Ew, Gabi, don’t say that. My mom is already bad enough as is.”

Gabi huffed and followed Eve into her apartment building. Eve lived on the 40th floor of her building. Her apartment overlooked the city with views of the Detroit River. She picked classic exposed brick walls and decorated the place with her vintage mid-century modern furniture, a Carl Manfred painting gifted to her by the artist himself, and a few photographs of her family. On her coffee table, she placed a vase full of peonies, her favorite flower.

“God, I always forget how fucking rich you are. Does CyberLife still pay you out?” Gabi asked.

“Yeah. Lately just the checks from Kamski. The board of directors must have convinced him to pay me since they can’t. I think the whole android revolution really took a hit to CyberLife. The board is scrambling to keep investors on and people like me quiet,” Eve said.

“Kamski? Must be serious. Does he know you’re here?”

“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Eve opened the crate. She pulled out a bottle of blue liquid labeled “#4-46”. She opened the bottle and sniffed the contents.

“We were dragging bottles of thirium? Damn it. You could have gotten movers,” Gabi said.

“This isn’t Thirium 310. This is synthetic thirium,” Eve said.

“Synthetic thirium? That sounds crazy.”

“Well both the Chinese and Russian markets are willing to pay billions, maybe even a trillion, to not have to depend on the US thirium trade and have something that works better and more efficiently than thirium. So, it is crazy.”

“Is this what you were working on after that case?”

“I’ve always been working on this, but I needed to kick my research into high gear after you know.” Eve waved her hand. Gabi nodded.

Gabi plopped down onto one of the chairs. Sergeant Tibbs, Eve’s cat, appeared from behind the couch and jumped into Gabi’s lap. She gave Tibbs a scratch on the chin.

“Her royal majesty wants to be scratched? Of course you do, Tibbs,” Gabi said.

Eve returned from the kitchen with glasses of wine. Gabi immediately reached for her glass and took a long sip. Tibbs gave Gabi dirty look for not paying attention to her. She leapt off Gabi’s lap and returned to her spot behind the couch. Gabi shrugged, knowing that Tibbs was a fickle friend.

“So how is Central Station so far?” Gabi asked.

“It’s fine. Different than CPD but also the same. Did you know there’s an android detective?” Eve said as she sat down on her couch. Tibbs came back out and settled next to Eve, who absentmindedly stroked Tibbs.

“Not really. I mean I heard there was one. But other than that, nothing else.”

“He’s my partner now.”

“What? Do they know anything about you?”

“One look at my records, and my fate was sealed. So now I get an android partner and have to investigate crimes involving androids. Yay me.”

Eve was not anti-android by any means. She would say she was more anti-CyberLife. She had been a naive teenager when she met Elijah Kamski through an acquaintance. He had been interested in the research and invention Eve was doing at the time- namely anything with thirium. In later years, when she had time to reflect, she beat herself over how she let Kamski walk all over her and take advantage of her. Gabi was always there to remind her that what happened between her and Kamski wasn't her fault. But as far as the world knew, Elijah Kamski was the genius, the Man of the Century, and the sole inventor of Thirium 310 and biocomponents. Little talk was made of Eve Park, the person who was once labeled by the Chicago Tribune as The Girl Genius.

“So tell me about Mr. Android Detective,” Gabi asked.

“His name is Connor,” Eve said.

Gabi snorted. “What kind of name is that for an android?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like he picked it. But honestly, it fits him. Like you look at him and think ‘that’s a Connor.’”

“So what do you think about him?”

That was the big question. Wasn’t it? Eve thought. Eve never interacted with an android the way she had with Connor in the past week. She never owned an android before the revolution, and she purposely distanced herself from androids and anything CyberLife ever since her fallout with Kamski. She was uncomfortable being surrounded by these beings that were reminders of her failures. For some reason, Connor didn’t feel that way to her. He made her feel like someone she could trust, and she knew he went out of his way to make her feel that way.

“I think Connor is a good partner so far,” Eve said.

“That means a lot coming from you,” Gabi said.

“Does it?”

“Of course, it does. You never really had a partner in CPD, and you’ve got a lot of heavy shit with CyberLife. So if you think that about him already, that means he’s probably a real good guy. Though I can’t make any final judgments on him because I don’t even know what he looks like and I need to ask him like a million questions.”

“I already knew you were going to ask for a picture, and I asked him for a picture for his contact profile on my phone. He didn’t know it was for clearly nefarious purposes.”

Eve handed her phone to Gabi and opened up the picture. She had taken it at their desks. Terrible lighting conditions, but nothing that could hide high cheekbones and a sweet smile. Gabi lifted an eyebrow and then narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. In the years that they had been friends, it was the kind of face Gabi made when she was going to give Eve a piece of her mind. One of the reasons why Eve liked Gabi so much was because she always told Eve what she really thought. She didn’t pull any punches, and Eve didn’t want any lies from anyone. The truth hurt, but it was a pain that Eve never minded.

“So- this guy,”  Gabi said.

“Yeah?” Eve said.

“Have you fucked him?”

“What?”

“I’m for real, Eve. Have you fucked him?”

“No, that’s ridiculous. I've literally just met him.”

“That hasn't stopped a lot of people before. Be real with yourself. Because straight up, he looks like your type, and you have not had sex in a very long time.”

“First off, that is rude to expose me like that; and secondly, I have been in recovery after my accident.”

“You said you were completely recovered like six months ago, and your vagina wasn’t broke last I heard.  Face it. This guy is a classic Eve Guy, very cute but like he could secretly probably fuck someone up real good. In case you forgot, in this scenario, that someone is you. Plus he looks like he’s a walking, talking thirst trap.” Gabi held up Eve’s phone to her face, pretending to be Connor. “‘Eve, you’re so thirsty for me. All my sensors tell me that you have not had sex in a long time, and I’m here to remedy that.’”

“Gabi, stop reading those android-human Harlequins. They’re trash and completely inaccurate.”

“Yet, you’re probably dying for that to happen with this guy.”

Eve rolled her eyes. There weren’t enough sighs in the world to react to this entire conversation. She would rather be blasted into outer space rather than talking about her love life and the lack thereof.

As loathed as Eve was to admit it, Gabi was kind of right. Connor fit the mold of almost every guy she had gone out with. He was very handsome in a classic way- like he deserved to only be dressed in a tuxedo. She almost always preferred guys with dark hair to blonde hair, and she didn’t like guys that looked like they spent too much time in the gym but still looked fit. Not that Connor ever spent any time in the gym to look the way he did, she noted. He was smart, though being an android certainly helped with that, and he had a soft spot for animals and anything that was cute. Definitely her type.

As for the other thing Gabi said, it was almost embarrassingly true. Eve had not been in a relationship in the longest, and her attempts at dating were feeble at best. She simply didn’t have the time to go out with anyone, and most men didn’t care for her obsession with her career. To be honest, Eve liked using her career as a crutch to hide the fact that she didn’t want to really commit to a relationship. She had been burned before, and she didn’t want to put herself in a vulnerable position. Even just having sex with someone felt like too much. She never really liked one night stands, and the idea of having sex with an Eden Club android always made her feel awkward. When she put it all together, she called it like it was. Eve Park was in a dry spell.

“It’s not like I’ve fucked every guy that is my type. Besides, he’s probably a Ken doll anyway. Any android that isn’t a companion or sex android doesn’t have any- you know,” Eve said gesturing to her crotch.

“You think he doesn’t have a penis? This means you’ve actually contemplated the logistics of having sex with him. Therefore, you want to fuck him,” Gabi said.

“More like I worked for CyberLife and know what goes into making an android. It just didn’t make any sense to make more parts if they weren’t necessary for the primary function. I mean some special custom prototypes have them, but like usually someone else paid for the production and those people always have some weird requests. And Connor told me that CyberLife made him expressly to hunt deviants.”

“Way to bring up the whole ‘I use to make androids for a living’ logic.”

Eve shrugged. “It’s a fact.”

“I’m going to have to ask him this in person.”

“Gabi, no.”

“Gabi, yes. Because I just got news that my transfer to Central Station finally went through.”

Eve let out an ear shattering squeal and jumped up to hug Gabi.

“You are so going to get me fired,” Eve said.

“But not before you and Detective Hot Bot bone.”

“No. We’re professionals. That’s never going to happen, and don’t call him Detective Hot Bot.”

“I’m definitely calling him that- to his face.”

“You’re the worst best friend.”

“I’m your only best friend.”

Gabi laughed and put on her best, widest smile. It was all true. Gabi Lopez was Eve Park’s best friend, and Eve would never change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I've been actually working on this chapter for a while, and I've been dying to reveal Gabi and her penchant for calling Connor "Detective Hot Bot" for the longest.  
> -Not that it ever was a total mystery/surprise, but we will get to see Elijah Kamski in the future, future chapters of this fic.
> 
> Anyway- again, all the love and thanks for any of you reading this.


	6. The Interrogation of Connor Anderson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I want to shout out to all of you that are reading this fic. It's very much appreciated.

Jeffrey Fowler liked to start meetings on time. Not one minute early or one minute late but precisely on time. Connor knew this, and as such, he made sure to show up to briefings just before Fowler got there. Today was no different. All that is except for Eve, who sat down beside Connor, equally early and ready for the briefing.

“Are you two ready for your briefing?” Fowler asked.

“Yes, sir,” Connor said.

“Park?”

Eve pulled out a nondescript notebook and flipped to a page of notes. She reviewed each bullet point and highlighted additional notes. “Yes, Captain.”

Fowler nodded. “Good. It looks like you two are actually getting along. Higher ups made a good decision for once.”

Officers and detectives started to funnel in. Chris gave Connor a side eye as he noticed Eve sitting next to him. A second later, Chris would receive a text saying that it was natural for two detectives that were partners to be sitting next to each other. Connor would then get a text ten seconds later asking if it was normal for a detective to stare at his partner’s ass for prolonged periods of time. Connor’s response to Chris was “I don’t stare at Eve that much, but said ass in question is very nice.” The follow up from Chris was a peach emoji.

“If I could have your attention, it would be appreciated as I do not want to be here anymore than any of you want to be here,” Captain Fowler said, walking up to the podium.

The room silenced. Everyone sat in their chair a little straighter.

“First business to conduct, I’d like everyone to welcome our newest transfer from South station, Officer Gabriela Lopez,” Fowler said in a tone that reminded everyone that Fowler could never muster up the kind of enthusiasm for a new hire like he did for the calendar he had marked up with how close he was to retirement.

Officer Lopez shot up and waved to everyone. “Hi, just call me Gabi! I’m super psyched to be a part of Central Station, and if you need to know anything about Detective Park, I’ve got them dirty deets.”

“Thank you Officer Lopez. That was wholly unnecessary. Next on our agenda, Detectives Anderson and Park will grace us with their findings. Detective Park, feel free to spare us ‘your dirty deets’. Keep to the case at hand,” Fowler said.

Eve’s shoulders slumped as she got up from her seat and followed Connor to the podium. The screen behind them started to flash the first picture from the crime scene.

“Yes, on Tuesday, March 13th at 4:30 A.M., local dispatchers received a call complaining about loud noises from a house. The officers that came to the crime scene. The door was unlocked, but there was no response. It was then that Officer Chris Miller noticed that there was a strange smell coming from inside the house. Officer Miller and Officer #5125 entered the home. There they found the body of an android,” Eve said.

The screen flickered to the picture of Aria’s lifeless body.

“As you can see, the victim died from a blow to the back of the head. Additionally, the suspect gouged the eyes of the victim out. Analysis shows that the suspect grabbed the victim by the face and used enough force to gouge the eyes out while smashing the head against headboard. Due to the cranial damage, we were unable to uncover any memory or recordings of what occurred prior to the death,” Eve said.

The next picture was of Kyle Mullins, the mugshot taken of him when he was brought into Central. Eve nodded to Connor and stepped back to let Connor speak.

“Kyle Mullins is the owner of the house our victim was found in. He is currently in holding on drug charges and has previously been convicted for distribution of an illicit substance. He claims there was another android, and that this android was the one killed our victim,” Connor said.

The picture turned to one of Aria with notes added by CSI, pinpointing key areas of interest.

“Forensics could not find evidence of another android at the scene of the crime, but when they ran the victim’s body for analysis, they did not find more conclusive evidence that Kyle Mullins committed the murder as they did not find any fingerprints on the victim’s body other than on her forearms, which suggests the possibility of another person at the scene of the crime- most likely an android which matches with Kyle’s statements and the lack of fingerprints on the victim. At this moment, Detective Park and I are attempting to uncover who this other android is,” Connor said.

Fowler motioned for Connor and Eve to take their seats. Eve glanced over at Connor and shrugged. Other detectives and officers made their reports before the captain spoke about new department standards and goals for the upcoming week. After the meeting concluded, Officer Lopez ran over to Eve.

“Eve! Are you going to introduce me to whoever this snack is seated beside you?” Officer Lopez said.

Connor looked around. No one referred to him as such before, and the search criteria was too wide for him to pick out what Officer Lopez was trying to say. Eve leaned in and whispered to Connor. “She’s talking about you.”

“I assumed so since I’m the only one seated beside you, but I do not understand why I’m being referred to as a ‘snack’,” Connor said.

“Gabi is just trying to say that she thinks of you as being easy on the eyes. Oh, Connor, this is Gabi Lopez. She’s my friend,” Eve said.

“Best friend. I’m your best friend. Don’t get any ideas.” Gabi pointed to Connor.

“I didn’t,” Connor said.

“Gabi, this is Connor Anderson. He’s my partner.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Connor shook Gabi’s hand.

“Is it? I feel like you’ll regret saying that,” Eve said. “I’m headed to the evidence room. Meet me there?”

“Sure,” Connor said.

After Eve left, Gabi took Connor’s hand and sat beside him. If Connor had any sense, he would have left when Eve left. Instead, his politeness overruled. He could gather that whatever Gabi intended, she was going to be in charge.

“So Connor, how’s Eve been doing?” Gabi asked.

“She’s fine,” Connor said as he pulled his hand from Gabi’s grasp.

“So, partners, huh? You’ve had other partners before. Is she more or less better than any previous partners? Be the right amount of honest.” 

“My only other partner was my father. I’d rather not rank my current partner against my father.”

“Yeah, that’s a tough look. Have you been with the department for long?”

“Basically since I was implemented. A little over a year ago. Although I did have a brief time where I didn’t work for the department for more obvious reasons.”

“Revolution, got it. But that’s cool. You didn’t have to be a detective again, but you did it anyway.”

A smile spread on Connor’s face. He hadn’t thought about it much before, but he guessed that he could have done anything else after the revolution. However, he genuinely enjoyed the work being a detective brought. Nothing was ever the same, and he liked the people he worked with.

“I like this job a lot,” Connor said.

“Eve’s the same way. She would marry her job if it were a thing,” Gabi said. “So, you’ve got a dad that works here. Any friends?”

“Friends? Officer Chris Miller and I are friends.”

“Like just work friends or real friends?”

“I frequently go to his home for dinner, and we occasionally go to see the Pistons play.”

“I’ll count that as real friends. Anyone else here? What about Detective Reed? He’s like in that same age bracket as you guys.”

The mention of Gavin Reed made Connor recoil a bit. Admittedly the only person that Connor had ever met that he disliked was Gavin Reed. He never knew what Reed’s problem with him was, but it was enough for him to say that he loathed Reed. Connor remembered his pre-deviancy days where he tried to bend over backwards trying to get Reed to change his mind about him, but all of the partner programing could never work on a guy as cynical as Reed.

“I don’t associate with Detective Reed unless it is required of me. Other than that, you could say it's basically a bromance,” Connor said.

“Ooh, bad blood. Whoops, now I’ve got that Taylor Swift song stuck in my head. Don’t look that up unless you want to be in my predicament,” Gabi said.

“I won’t. I’m partial to the music of Carly Rae Jepsen as of late.”

“Wow, Eve’s a terrible influence on you. Speaking of which, Connor, are you single?” Gabi rested her arm on the back of her chair and leaned into Connor.

Connor scooted back. Gabi appeared to not have any social filters or care about whether or not she made Connor uncomfortable. What kind of question was this, Connor wondered. It wasn’t really pertinent to anything the Gabi needed to know about Connor. The only conclusion he could really draw was that it was possible that Gabi was attracted to him. After all, she did call him a snack. She would not have been the first person to express that she was interested in him romantically, but it was the first time he was slightly scared to turn someone down.

“I’m not in any kind of relationship at this moment. But if I could be honest, I am not interested in you like that,” Connor said.

“Ha! You’re really cute, but you’re not my type. No offense, but I like my guys to be a little more jacked than you,” Gabi said.

Confusion settled into Connor. If Gabi wasn’t interested in him, why was she bothering to ask about his relationship status? Most of the androids Connor knew were single and had not paired off in any matter. If they did, they mostly stuck to relationships with other androids. Markus had once suggested Connor try dating an android if he was interested in integrating more into android society. Instead, Connor threw himself into his work more and considered that to be a sufficient replacement for something he wasn’t interested in. It took his mind off of the fact that he didn’t want to integrate with android society any more than he already did.

“I’m glad this feeling is mutual then. Though I want to mention that I’m physically sufficient for what is required of me,” Connor said.

“Heh, well more power to you. Hey, crazy question here, Connor, but do you think Eve is pretty?” Gabi said.

There was an evil smile on Gabi’s face. While Connor didn’t think Gabi was evil, he definitely felt her to be devious. Her interrogation was slipping further and further into every embarrassing territory one could encompass, and she seemed emboldened by each question as if there was nothing Connor could do to stop her. That question seemed to be plucked from the depths of his mind like she knew to ask it because the answer wasn’t merely that Eve was pretty. To Connor, Eve was so wildly beautiful to him that sometimes the thought of her made his body react in ways he didn’t realize were possible.

“Detective Park’s face is very symmetrical, and she proves to be physically capable for her job,” Connor said. “Excuse me, I should actually be assisting Detective Park right now. She is expecting me.”

Connor hightailed it out of the briefing room and to the evidence room. There, Eve was reading her phone until she noticed Connor.

“You survived Gabi’s interrogation,” Eve said.

“Barely. It was easily one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life,” Connor said. “Gabi didn’t tell you anything. Did she?”

Eve laughed and put her phone in her pocket. “Just that you said I was physically capable to do my job, which I will definitely take as a compliment. So thank you. For the record, I think you’re also physically capable to do your job.”

“Thank you. That’s what I tried to explain to Gabi, but there was this whole misunderstanding.”

“About what?”

“I was under the impression that Gabi was trying to express attraction for me.”

There was another laugh from Eve. 

“You’re definitely not her type. She’s got like a thing for dudes that are a bit more on the built side. She basically likes guys that look like Gavin, but she hates guys that act like Gavin,” Eve said.

“I’m more physically capable than Gavin,” Connor said.

“I’m sure you are.”

“No, I mean I got involved in an altercation with Gavin in this very room, and I incapacitated him.”

Eve’s jaw dropped. She looked entirely speechless. Her eyes widened as she processed that bit of information.

“Wow. That like seriously happened?” Eve asked.

“Yes, but it was necessary. I had somewhere to be, and I was trying to avoid being seen by the FBI,” Connor said.

“I have about a million questions to ask you about like all of this.”

“Some other time. I’d like us to continue working on the investigation.”

“You’re killing me here, Connor. Unfortunately, I actually agree with you. I know you’ve seen the clips in Aria’s head, but do you mind playing them for me? I’d like to see if we missed anything.”

Connor stood at the center console and looked down at Eve.

“I have to warn you about these clips. They feature content that is considered not safe for work. On the other hand, none of that should be a surprise to you,” Connor said.

“I can brace myself,” Eve said.

The first clip had an almost vintage quality to it, grainy, full of skips, and corrupted audio. Connor had seen it before, and like before, he didn’t notice anything in particular. He skipped to the next memory.

Unlike the first memory, the second memory proved to be a sort drug fueled fever dream. In the video, Aria had been the one to supply her customer with drugs. The sex had been strange and involved many things that Connor learned were considered to be “kinks”.

“Next video,” Eve said.

Connor obliged and skipped to the third video. It was the only video in which Aria’s face could be seen as she had been a room surrounded with mirrors. It was strange to look at the victim with her artificial skin on. She reminded Connor of Chloe with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and blank stare. She was pretty, but when Connor looked at her, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Her life had been short, and she had been subject to abuse from some of the clients. He wondered if she had ever felt happiness.

Watching the video for what was Connor’s 6th time, he noticed something that he thought was familiar. He didn’t know if it was because he had seen the video so many times, but this time he couldn’t shake the idea that he missed what should have been obvious. Connor paused the video and pointed to the interior of the room.

“I only know of one place that looks like this,” Connor said.

“It looks like… an Eden Club. Oh fuck,” Eve said.

“Something wrong?”

“I had a case prior to my last at an Eden Club. It was messy, and Eden Club threatened to sue CPD for attempting to alter their androids. I mean the department agreed that I was within my right for investigation, but they also gave me a warning.”

“What exactly were you doing?”

“I… uh… was trying to circumvent the two hour memory wipe thing for an android witness. It’s like the worst.”

“You won’t get an argument from me on that. Hank and I had a similar issue when we did an investigation at an Eden Club. Now Hank won’t stop letting me forget that I’m the reason why his expense report had multiple thirty minute sessions with Eden Club androids.”

“He actually filled out an expense report? I ate the costs up because I was too embarrassed to file one.”

“I offered to have CyberLife pay for the costs, but I think Hank just wanted an excuse to have something he could bring up to embarrass me.”

Eve laughed. “I guess we’re going to be visiting the Eden Club so we can have more embarrassing moments our lives in a sex club.”

“I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -It will be expressed many times in this fic, but Connor likes Eve's ass. "It's very nice" as he would say.  
> -I am well aware that in the game the basketball team is called the Detroit Gears, but I don't have to worry as much about the NBA getting on my case about whether or not I mention the Detroit Pistons instead. So I would prefer to refer to them as the Pistons.  
> -Eve's obsession with Carly Rae Jepsen strikes again! She listens to other music, but I like the idea of a very serious detective that's really into Carly Rae Jepsen and socks with cats on them.  
> -Obviously we have to go to the Eden Club. All sorts of shenanigans will happen.


	7. In The Garden of Eden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many thanks to any of you that are reading this. Also lots of thanks to those that have commented. While I don't really write this for comments and stuff, I do like hearing from you guys.
> 
> I will be the first to admit this chapter is rough. Sorry about that. I've had to scrap parts and rework them until they worked, and this is what I've got.
> 
> Also, if you read this and then re-read it, you may notice that I've changed a couple things here and there. It's mainly to rework the timeline to sync up to actually being almost a year from the start of the game rather than a year and a half. I had to do this to make the story in the future work better.

“This is the worst place,” Eve said under neon pink lights.

Connor knew better than to say it, but Eve looked particularly beautiful bathed in the pink light of the Eden Club. In this light, her short jet black hair shone in a purple sheen. She wore an oversized mustard blazer that cocooned over her small body and appeared more pink from the neon lights. Beneath, she had one of her signature turtlenecks and slim herringbone trousers. He discovered from Gabi that this was “a look”. Whatever it was, he wanted to just look at Eve like this forever. So he kept the image in his memory where he would recall it during one of his morning walks.

“Is there something up with my face?” Eve asked.

“What? No, it’s fine,” Connor said. Better than fine, he thought. She had a face of an angel as far as he was concerned.

“Okay because you have this goofy look on your face.”

“I do?”

Connor furrowed his eyebrows. Eve walked up to him and touched his LED. There was a gentleness in her touch. The calluses on her fingertips ran over the LED. His sensors couldn’t really handle the sensation of how nice it just felt for Eve to skim her fingers over his forehead. He recognized that it was slightly embarrassing to be so worked up over a little touch, but he felt so boundless and good that he didn’t care.

“Yeah, this is just tripping between red and yellow. Maybe you should run a diagnostic?” Eve said.

“I’m fine,” Connor said. “I ran one not too long ago. I’m running at peak performance right now.”

“Good. There should be a manager in the back. Let’s talk to him about Aria,” Eve said and tilted her head in the direction of the club.

The last time Connor had been to the Eden Club was also his first time at the Eden Club, back with Hank and hunting for deviants. The club was much more formal back then with all the androids behind their cases. These days, the androids walked freely around the club, wearing more colorful and fantastical attire than their previous CyberLife approved drab underwear, and chatting up customers while serving drinks. It was certainly livelier but no less awkward than before, but that had more to deal with human taboo of prostitution more than anything.

“Are you looking to have some fun tonight?” One of the female androids said as she approached Connor. She looked a little bit like Eve to him with her petite frame and delicate facial features, though her hair was cotton candy pink and her synthetic skin had been covered in silvery glitter and iridescent flecks. She was dressed up like an angel with her sheer white babydoll dress and wings. Her fingers trailed up and down Connor’s arm.

“I’ve never seen you here before. I’ll make sure to give you a good time so you can come back some more,” she said.

Eve folded her arms and cleared her throat loudly. She was in total detective mode now, unbelievably professional and no nonsense. It was always a startling change that Connor forgot about.

“Excuse me. He’s working,” Eve said, pulling Connor by the hand and away from the angel android. “I don’t care what you do in your spare time, but this isn’t your spare time. We have to find that manager.”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything,” Connor said.

“You weren’t exactly brushing her off.”

“She kind of looked like you.”

Eve snorted and rolled her eyes. She pulled her hand away from Connor’s and brushed her hair behind her ears.

“Sure. I don’t see it, but you’re the android. I’m sure your facial recognition software can pinpoint how many similarities occur in faces,” Eve said.

“It does. But that’s besides the point. We ought to find the manager. The manager is likely in the back of this establishment,” Connor said.

“Lead the way.”

They went deeper into the club, generic electronic music thumping in the background. More androids shuffled about the floors of the club, dancing and searching for their next customer. One of the male androids turned his attention toward Eve. He was tall and muscular with a square jaw and sharp cheekbones. Connor saw the way he looked at Eve. He felt uncomfortable knowing that this android looked at Eve the way he did.

“You’re certainly-“ the android said.

“I don’t care what you think about me. I’m with the Detroit Police, and I’m looking for your manager. Where is he?” Eve said as she held her hand up.

“How about you tell me your name and I’ll tell you where he is?”

“Eve.”

The android smiled and chuckled to himself. “Eve in Eden. Let me be your Adam.”

“Hardy har har. I haven’t heard that one before.”

“So do you not like androids? Trust me. You spend one night with an android, and you’re never going back.”

“Yeah, you’re useless. You wasted everyone’s time.”

Eve pushed the android aside and made her way to one of the maintenance androids in the back.

“Hello, can you assist me in locating your manager? I’m here for an investigation with the Detroit Police Department, and you are the only one not trying to get into anyone’s pants,” Eve said.

The android laughed and pointed his head toward a hallway in the back.

“Sure. He should be in his office. It’s at the end of the hallway right by the warehouse,” the android said.

“Thanks.”

The manager’s office was by the warehouse just as the maintenance android said. The door was ajar. Eve knocked on the door and opened the door further. The manager of the Eden Club sat at his desk, eyes glued to his terminal. From their side, Connor could tell that he was watching the androids with the customers. There was a plastic name plate on the front of his desk that read “Joe Moretti-Manager”.

Joe Moretti was exactly the kind of person one would expect to be the manager of an android sex club. He was a squat man with beady black eyes and greasy, thinning hair that he slicked back. He smelled like cheap cologne. Connor analyzed the scent as being Drakkar Noir. Further analysis showed that Moretti had a criminal record that involved illegal gambling, soliciting prostitutes prior to the legalization of prostitution, and possession of a Schedule 1 substance. Though, Connor didn’t need to look at that profile to tell from the stains on Moretti’s fingers that he used red ice and helped himself to his employees.

“Hello Mr. Moretti, we’re detectives from the Detroit Police Department. We’re conducting an investigation and would like to ask you a few questions,” Connor said.

Moretti took a break from watching his terminal and eyed Eve. Even in her oversized coat, it seemed like Moretti could size her up and undress her to his imagination's delight.

“You sure that’s all you’re here for? People would pay to see a girl like that out there,” Moretti said.

Eve folded her arms. “Good for me I’m not an android. That is the requirement to work here. Is it not?” She said.

“You’re not, but he is.” He pointed to Connor. “People would pay good money to see him fuck you. Record it and put it on the internet. You two would make a killing.”

“I think my partner made it clear that we’re only here to ask questions related to an investigation we’re making. You’re not under investigation. We just need your cooperation.”

Connor slid a picture towards Moretti of Aria. Moretti leaned back into his chair and examined the picture before tossing it back onto his desk.

“This android was seen at this particular Eden Club. Do you know her?” Connor asked.

“Yeah, I do. That’s Sarah Gibbs. You looking for her?” Joe said.

“Sort of,” Eve said.

“Well, I can’t help you. I haven’t seen her in weeks. She used to come and dance. Sometimes take on a few clients. Then she got some asshole who apparently gave her better clients.”

“Was this person an android?”

“No.”

“We’re looking for an android that may have associated with Sarah. Are you familiar?” Connor asked.

“Something like that. Real freak job. Sometimes she’d bring him around as muscle. It used to hang around the back because we couldn’t have it scaring the shit out of customers.”

“Mr. Moretti, could you provide a basic description of the android?” Connor asked.

“Weird. Just all that plastic. Plus its arms and shit don’t match.”

“So its limbs come from different models?”

“Yeah some real nightmare shit. Kid you not.”

“Have you seen this android lately?”

“Some of the employees say that they see him still by the warehouse. I say it’s bullshit. They just don’t want to go into the warehouse. Who knew androids could be scared!” Moretti slapped his desk and laughed at his pitiful excuse of a joke.

“Do you mind if we look in the warehouse then?” Eve asked.

“Knock yourself. Just dildos and shit in there.”

The detectives nodded and exited Moretti’s office. They entered the warehouse right beside Moretti’s office. The warehouse looked less dim than it had a year ago. There no longer were androids being stored for later use. It was now mainly used for supply storage and a minimal android repair center.

Connor wandered toward the exit of the warehouse. He stared at the chain link fence. He wondered about the androids he had failed to capture almost a year ago. What happened to those androids? Were they finally happy and free? He walked over to the fence and placed his hands on fence as he contemplated the past.

As he gazed through the fence, Connor noticed something moving in the background. He caught a flash of white plastic. There was a strange sensation in his head telling him to follow. He started climb up the fence and jumped over. 

“Hey! Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Eve said.

“I’m following the android,” Connor said before he ran out after the android. 

In the corner of his eye, he saw Eve climb the fence. He figured she would catch up. He hid behind a corner and looked to the side. He caught a glimpse of a plastic leg. He stalked closely behind, making gains on the android as started to turn to what appeared to be an alleyway.

Connor reached the android. Eve was long gone behind him. Not a smart move, he knew; but now that he found the android, he started to rationalize the decision. He caught the suspect. That’s what needed to be done above all else. Eve would understand, he told himself.

The android in front of Connor was beyond the description Moretti and Mullins gave. It didn’t appear to totally be a CyberLife model, at least not all of it. Parts were frankensteined together, welded imperfectly. An arm from a Google Droid III series, a leg from a Xiaomi Mi Life X companion android, and the other leg off an obsolete LG model. Connor searched for the serial number on its face, but they had been filed off roughly.

“Detroit Police! Identify yourself,” Connor said, his gun pointed at the android.

The android opened its mouth. Words didn’t come out. The only sound that came from the android was a garbled mess of noise that paralyzed Connor. He fell to his knees and clutched his head. He attempted to scramble for his gun, but his grip was too weak to hold on.

At that moment, Connor could pick up footsteps behind him. Eve finally caught up and rushed to Connor’s side. She hardly sounded winded even though she ran the entire time from the Eden Club.

“You okay?” Eve asked, taking her time to still breathe a little.

The only thing Connor could do in response was blink. She held Connor up and stared down the android in front of them. The android opened its mouth again to begin its attack. Connor dropped again. He struggled onto his hands and knees. As he tried to get back, Eve was back at his side ready to pick him up.

“Ignore me. Get it,” Connor said.

Eve nodded and pulled her gun at the android. The android let out another one of its mess of sounds. Eve winced and then clutched at her left arm. She lifted her right arm and pointed her gun back at the android. She attempted to aim at one of the mismatched limbs. Her arm was shaking. The android started to make noises again. Eve shot at the android, but her arm was shaking so badly she missed. She fired more shots at the android. One shot grazed the android’s shoulder, and another seemed to ricochet from it’s arm. The shots weren’t enough to expose any biocomponents or cause the android to lose thirium. Instead, the android continued as if nothing happened and then jumped onto an old fire escape. Eve retreated back to Connor.

Strength returned to Connor’s body, and he got back onto his feet. Eve had been standing in shock since the android escaped. She was balling her left hand into a fist and then stretching that hand out. She had been cradling her left shoulder the entire time.

“Why did you miss it?” Connor said.

“It wasn’t like I missed on purpose,” Eve said.

“Well, we lost that android.”

Eve looked like she was about to say something back to Connor. Instead, she turned her back on him and started walking back to the club. Connor followed her.

“Leave me alone,” Eve said.

“I can’t,” Connor said.

“Well you did back at the fence.”

“I was doing my job.”

“Well, you’re a shitty partner then.”

There was a part of Eve that looked like she was about to cry. Connor knew better. She would never cry in front of him. Instead she wrapped her arms around herself and walked back to her car. They drove back to the station in silence. Even though Connor’s mind was preoccupied with the case, he realized one thing that he didn’t think he could say to Eve. He lost control of himself and took it out on Eve. He did abandon her like she said.

“I’m sorry,” Connor said.

Eve sighed and tightened her hands on the steering wheel. She blinked a few times until tears started to roll off her cheeks. Connor never felt worse. Angels should never have to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Next chapter is going to be long and will explore more of Eve's history and background. I hope you enjoy a long ass chapter.  
> -I mainly got myself in the right mood for this chapter listening to these songs: [The Juan Maclean - "Running Back to You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAc8HADx17w) and [Kavinsky - Nightcall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV_3Dpw-BRY).  
> -Eve's jacket is something I covet in real life. It is [this coat from Madewell](https://www.madewell.com/hollis-double-breasted-coat-in-stripe-J8780.html?dwvar_J8780_color=WQ5089&cgid=apparel-jacketscoats&position=9&position=9&activeChunk=1#start=1)  
> -Real talk, there is an actual document I have with extra chapters/stories for this fic, and one of them is definitely the AU of this chapter where Connor and Eve decide to have sex in exchange for information Moretti has. It is filthy, and I'm ashamed.  
> Edit: It exists now! Hop on over to [Blue Electric](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17925605/chapters/42327563)  
> -I like thinking about Connor, while being deviant, slipping back into moments where he is still a machine and becomes single minded. Hence the later part of this chapter.  
> -It's fun to make up names for androids (not actually said by me). On the other hand, I do like to imagine like all these other companies making their own androids.  
> -As a kid, I really liked the anime The Big O, and there was a scene that always struck me where an android speaks this robot noise to a different robot. That's what I had in mind when I wrote this android fight.  
> -A million apologies for all of that angst in the end. My heart was breaking.


	8. All My Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, you know I have to thank all of you that tune into this fic each week and also thanks to everyone who reads this. You guys are the best (honest).
> 
> Important note for this chapter!!!: You will see that I use italics in dialogue this chapter, and it's mainly to signal that Eve is talking to someone in Korean. This is mainly because, despite what my grandma says, I have the worst Korean skills. So rather than be absolutely wrong, I'm just going to do this because I have no better solution.

The 28th hour of being awake was brutal. Eve hadn’t been up this long since she pulled all nighter shifts at CyberLife. She was irritated as all get out and could punch the next person she saw in the face. Instead, she went to the one person who would set her into a better mood.

Gabi was knee-deep in paperwork that had been given to her to organize. She was cursing under her breath that she didn’t go through the academy for this shit. She immediately perked up when Eve approached her desk.

“Oh my god, you are like a literal angel sent to this earth so I could bask in your presence. Eve, what’s up?” Gabi asked.

“Not much. Just on the verge of murder,” Eve said. 

“Would the person you are murdering be Connor by chance? Because you have sent like a million death stares to Connor today.”

“She just decided she had enough of the asshole,” Gavin said, as he passed by Gabi’s desk.

“I cannot stress this enough, Gavin. Your opinion was not asked for,” Gabi said.

“You sure you don’t want any of this?” Gavin gestured to himself.

“No. Let me remind you. You are not a man. You are a fart in the shape of a man. So get out of here and let Eve and I commiserate in peace.”

Gavin walked away and flipped Gabi and Eve off. Gabi returned the favor in double. Eve sat on Gabi’s desk and folded her arms.

“It’s… about my arm,” Eve said in a tone that could barely be heard.

“Oh… wait. You haven’t told Connor about the uhhhh you know?” Gabi said.

“It’s not something I go advertising.”

“Still, if it’s going to be a problem, you have to say something.”

Eve pinched the bridge of her nose. “He has to know anyway. He has like a million sensors that pick up on that kind of thing.”

“But it also sounds like he didn’t use them to do a body scan on you. He probably would have mentioned it. He mentions all of that kind of shit. The other day he said that my body releases pheromones when I’m near Gavin and that the same could be said about Gavin near me. Trust me, he’d say something.”

Gabi was right, Eve relented. If Connor knew about her arm, he would have mentioned it immediately. There was no way he wasn’t going to just casually drop that he scoped all the specs on her left arm and the subsequent parts attached to her brain. He lived for making mentions of things he noticed.

“Do you think I should just tell him?” Eve asked.

“That’s up to you, but it might not be so great if you don’t mention it. It might just be worse if you keep it to yourself,” Gabi said.

“Yeah, cool. I’m just gonna casually go up to him and say, ‘Hey Connor, remember how my arm just totally fucked up last night, and we lost our suspect? Well I have biocomponents because a psychopath deviant android was going to tear me apart limb by limb, and my left arm just wasn’t lucky enough to make it by the time CPD found me. Also, all research suggests that the majority of my body will eventually need to be replaced with the plastic one that I made as a joke. I’m basically going to become like you. Twinsies!’”

“I mean- it gets the point across.”

“I’m fucked. Sorry, I need to get back to my desk. Connor looks like he’s going to have whatever the android equivalent of a mental breakdown is.”

“If that’s the case, don’t mention the whole you were tortured by a deviant android thing. I don’t think that would go down the best.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Last thing I need to do is also make things more awkward than they already are.”

“Good luck goddess divine.”

Eve rolled her eyes and went back to her desk. She peered over to Connor, who had been at his terminal researching and filing reports.

“He filed off the serial number from his face.” Connor slammed his fist against the desk. “And we didn’t even catch him.”

The air seemed too hot and sticky with tension. Eve stared at her feet and brushed her hair between her ears. It wasn’t totally her fault that they didn’t catch the android, but she felt like it was. She hadn’t expected that her arm would just complete fuck up when it did. If she was in a better mindset and at home, she would upload the data from her arm and analyze what actually stopped her arm from working. Instead, she had to get pissed off at Connor and make things weird. She wasn’t the best at keeping cool, she admitted.

“Kyle identified the android as being the one we’re looking for. Keep a cool head. We’ll find this android,” Eve said

“I had him cornered. I could have caught him.”

Eve didn’t realize Connor could get so frustrated. She had a feeling that this had more to deal with the fact the android made his body malfunction. He had made mention of it before, but he was an advanced prototype, the last android CyberLife made before the revolution. It was probably one of the few times he was confronted with his limits.

“Okay, well you’ve got a real psycho burnout vibe going on right now, and I’m going to let you sort that out. Let me know when you’re ready to actually work,” Eve said.

Eve left for the break room for coffee. When she returned to the bullpen, she passed by Hank’s desk.

“Is the dream team calling it quits? It’s only 11 AM,” Hank said.

Eve glanced at the clock on Hank’s terminal.

“Is this clock for real? It’s 11 AM? We’ve been at this android forever. I’m just losing my mind, and I don’t realize it,” Eve said.

“Well, you look like shit right now. You two aren’t going to find this mystery android today, and you’ve been working since 10 last night. You should get Connor to take you to get something to eat and get some rest,” Hank said.

“Any particular reason why I should do that?”

“The first reason is because you probably haven’t had anything to eat since last night, and you’re sure as fuck not going to make any headway on this case when you’re basically delusional. Also, crazy thing, he’s your partner, and it’s important to know your partner. I know he’s still got a stick up his ass even after becoming deviant, but he’s actually good when you get to know him.”

“Is that Dad Hank talking?”

“Heh, I’d say that even if he weren’t my son, but I’m especially saying it because he is my son.”

“Fine, I’ll go with him. I don’t want Lieutenant Asshole to bust my chops because I wasn’t nice to his son.”

“You say that like I’m the only one instilling nepotism in the force.”

Eve shook her head at Hank and ran back to her desk. Connor was still scanning through files.

“So, uh, I’m headed out- lunch and sleep. You’re welcome to come with me to talk about the case or whatever. Just so you know, Hank suggested that we do this,” Eve said.

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to feel any pressure to invite me. Besides, I don’t eat, and I’d rather work on the case,” Connor said.

“That is something I’m aware of. I just think that we might both need a break. So, I’m heading out now.”

Eve walked backward slowly, waiting to see if Connor was going to budge. He seemed to be intrigued at the prospect because he got up from his desk and followed Eve to the parking lot. They stopped at her car. Eve played around with her keys before sighing and realizing that she was probably too tired to drive.

“Do you, by chance, know how to drive stick shift?” Eve asked.

“Yes, I understand the principles and could operate a vehicle with manual transmission if it came down to it,” Connor said.

“Cool because I’m dead tired and I probably shouldn’t drive.” Eve shoved her keys into Connor’s hands.

“You said that you would never let anyone drive your car unless, and I quote, ‘hell froze over’. Is that what is happening right now?”

“Yes. Now get into the car before I change my mind.”

They got into Eve’s car. She immediately sunk into her seat and buckled up.

“So, where are you thinking about eating lunch?” Connor asked as he started the car.

“It’s some Korean restaurant I know. I’ll put it into the GPS for you. Will you be fine if I sleep a little?” Eve said as she punched in the address.

“Yes.”

Eve closed her eyes until she felt Connor nudge her gently awake. They were already at the nondescript strip mall where Eve's Favorite restaurant in Detroit was.

“Wow, I must have really blacked out,” Eve said.

“You fell asleep thirty seconds after you closed your eyes. I still suggest that you get an additional 7 hours of sleep,” Connor said.

Chimes rang as they opened the door. Eve laughed when they entered the Korean restaurant. She noticed Connor’s nose wrinkled a little as his sensors fired off. She imagined it was a bit overwhelming him. He was used to his own world, and it was time for Eve to start inviting him into hers.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been here,” Eve said.

A middle aged woman walked out from the back of the restaurant. She was the kind of woman you could tell was just as beautiful in her youth as she was in her now older years. She had a warm smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Her face lit up when she saw Eve standing there.

“Seorin! _ When did you come back? _ ” The woman said.

“ _ About a couple weeks ago, Mrs. Oh. Sorry I haven’t come back sooner, _ ” Eve said.

“ _ It’s good to have you back. Minji and the girls will want to see you soon.” _

_ “I’ll text her.” _

_ “She would like that. Come in, you must be hungry. You look too skinny. Your boyfriend probably doesn’t like that.”  _ Mrs. Oh gestured to Connor.

_ “He’s not my boyfriend.” _

_ “애인? _ ”

“아니요!”

Mrs. Oh laughed, the kind of laugh Eve liked to describe as full bodied. “ _ Are you sure? You two look good together _ .”

“ _ I work with him. Also he understands what we’re saying. He’s an android.” _

_ “I’m not judging you if you’re dating an android. I hear that’s a very popular thing these days. I hear they’re better lovers.”  _ Mrs. Oh nodded to Connor and smiled at him.

If Connor had a soul, Eve would say that she literally saw it exit from his body at this point. Had he ever experienced embarrassment? Eve was embarrassed enough for the both of them as is. She couldn’t imagine what Connor made of this. How was she going to explain that Mrs. Oh basically wanted to see Eve get married and have a million Korean babies? At least, Mrs. Oh was pretty optimistic about children made from synthetic sperm from the looks of it.

“Mrs. Oh, I think what Eve is trying to say is that we’re coworkers at the Detroit Police Department. Our relationship is purely professional,” Connor said.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Mrs. Oh said as she winked to Connor.

“You know what? I need some soondubu jjigae like stat, and I only have so long for lunch,” Eve said.

“Okay, Seorin, take a seat. I’ll be back, and you’ll introduce me to your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

Eve and Connor sat down at a booth. They were the same burgundy vinyl booths that had been in the restaurant back in 2028. Everything about this restaurant was trapped in 2028. There was the same soju advertisements, now all sun faded. Mrs. Oh still ordered the same paper placemats, and the wood paneling transported Eve to the times when she would come here on lunch breaks or when she felt lonely.

“Sorry about that. Mrs. Oh has known me for a while, and any guy that looks like he’s around my age is automatically a candidate for being my boyfriend, which is always awkward,” Eve said as she tilted her head and scratched her neck.

“I didn’t mind. It was- cute. I actually wanted to ask you this before, but you’ve clearly known Mrs. Oh for a while. Your profile didn’t mention anything about this, but you lived in Detroit before?” Connor asked.

“Uh, yeah. Like a little over ten years ago. I worked here, and then I went back to Chicago and joined the police force. I still came over to visit Mrs. Oh’s daughter Minji. I haven’t been around lately though. You probably know,” Eve said.

“Your last case with the Chicago Police Department? It’s completely sealed.”

“Oh. There’s probably a gag order on that, but I had a pretty serious accident. It was sometime around July 2038. Right around the time before the whole deviancy thing blew up.” Eve instinctively reached for her left shoulder and squeezed it. “So I couldn't go to see Minji and her kids even if I wanted to. Shit just really blew up here. You would know.”

“Yeah, a little.” Connor smiled.

At that moment, an android approached Connor and Eve’s table. Unlike Connor, she was not a CyberLife android. This android had been imported from Korea. She didn’t have the telltale signs of American android like an LED attached to her forehead. Instead, a thin LED band was attached at her wrist, calmly glowing in blue. Before the revolution, imported androids didn’t need an LED attachment on their foreheads as long as they had other items identifying them as an android. Eve stood up and hugged her tightly. Surprisingly, the android returned her hug in equal enthusiasm.

“Pilson, it’s so good to see you,” Eve said.

“It’s always a pleasure to see you, Seorin. Sunhee told me that you were here with your coworker. I just returned from the school with the twins. They’ll be very excited to see you,” Pilson said.

“Oh that’s great.”

“I’ll go get them then. I can’t have them waiting.”

Pilson went into the back, and Eve sat back down. Eve noticed Connor staring at Pilson.

“Something on your mind?” Eve asked.

“I’ve never met an android that wasn’t a CyberLife model,” Connor said.

“You’ve never been out of Detroit then. There are a lot of different android companies out there. Pilson was a top of the line Samsung household model, similar to an AP700.”

Pilson was the one exception of Eve’s no purchasing androids rule she had prior to the revolution. She made the purchase for Mrs. Oh when Mrs. Oh found out her mother had dementia. Sunhee couldn’t run her restaurant and care for her mother, and she didn’t want to ask Minji to help out when she was already being burned out by her job. So Eve made the executive decision to get an android for the Oh’s. She had just been let go by CyberLife for differing philosophies and bullshit performance reviews, and she used a trip to Korea to get an android from a rival company as an excuse to recharge and tell CyberLife “fuck you”.

Those months away from life had been what Eve needed. She purchased Pilson at the Samsung flagship store right off the floor and then told Pilson that they were going to have an adventure. She dragged Pilson everywhere from noraebangs and food tents to the mountains and finally to Jejudo. When they got back to Detroit, Pilson initially resisted leaving her until she met the Oh’s, but it had been the first time Eve had seen an android resist something as much as Pilson did. It was the first time Eve saw deviancy in real time, and it had made Eve happy.

Mrs. Oh returned back with Eve’s soup while Pilson juggled several small plates that she expertly laid down on the table. Pilson went back to the kitchen while Mrs. Oh sidled up beside Connor.

“So, Mr. Boyfriend, do you have a name?” Mrs. Oh said.

“I’m Connor Anderson,” Connor said, extending his hand to Mrs. Oh.

Mrs. Oh shook his hand. “You may call me Sunhee. Although, you can also call me Mrs. Oh like Seorin if it makes you comfortable. How long have you known Seorin?”

“A little over two weeks.”

Mrs. Oh waved her hand. “Two weeks is enough. My husband, may he rest in peace, asked me to marry him one week after I met him. The week after, we were married, and we stayed married until he died. Two weeks, that’s enough for you two.”

Eve slurped a spoonful of soup loudly and used the back of her hand to wipe her face. Mrs. Oh and Connor immediately looked at Eve.

“Yeah, I’m not having this conversation,” Eve said.

“ _ Someday you’re going to get married and have kids with him, and then you know who will be laughing? Me. I’m going to laugh so much when it happens _ ,” Mrs. Oh said.

“Until then, I’m going to enjoy this jjigae in peace.”

Mrs. Oh snorted and retreated to the back of the restaurant.

“Is it still cute now?” Eve asked.

Connor tilted his head. His LED turned yellow for a moment and then went back to its usual blue.

“It is still cute,” Connor said.

“I didn’t know you were so into schadenfreude. It hurts me that you get enjoyment from Mrs. Oh torturing me like that,” Eve said as she pressed her hands over her heart and gave Connor a pout. Connor smiled at Eve. “But it’s nice to see that you’re feeling better. I know things yesterday were really crazy, and I guess that just translates into us being really crazy.”

“It wasn’t your fault. We weren’t going to get it. I ran the scenario several times. Even if you would have gotten a clear shot, that android would still have escaped. I just- I’ve never felt so useless before.”

Eve tapped her spoon against her bowl. “Hey, do you have diagnostics from that time?”

“Yes, I’ve tried to make assessments of what happened, but I haven’t pinpointed what I can do to prevent it,” Connor said.

“Could you send me the data? I… I know someone who could take a look, someone who worked for CyberLife. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“No.” Connor said. “I’ve just sent you the data.”

Eve pulled up her phone and nodded.

“Cool,” Eve said. “I’ll send it to them right away.”

Judging from the way Connor studied the food set before him, Eve guessed that Hank was not the most adventurous eater. She shoved a spoonful of soup into her mouth and watched Connor process each separate plate of side dishes. 

“These dishes are called banchan. Is that correct?” Connor asked as he slid the small plates around as if he were performing some sort of magic trick.

Eve reached for the small plate of bean sprouts Connor was currently holding and dragged it toward her. She took her chopsticks and reached for some bean sprouts.

“Yeah. That’s correct, but you probably could have figured that out on your own,” Eve said.

“I can. I just wanted to ask you. Can I ask you something personal?” Connor asked.

“Uh, sure.”

“Why do they call you Seorin? Is that your name?”

“Yeah, that’s my name.”

“Would you prefer I call you Seorin?”

Eve placed her chopsticks on her mouth and stared at Connor. He was certainly the most inquisitive android she had ever met. Even amongst deviants she encountered, he was strikingly human. Something about his desire to know everything seemed more than just programming. It was more like he genuinely enjoyed taking information and knowing everything. There was always a smirk on his face when he would tell her something he knew that he thought was fascinating. Admittedly, she thought it was cute.

“I would prefer you call me Eve. It’s what I prefer to be called at work,” Eve said.

“You didn’t answer my other question. Why do they call you Seorin?”

“Because that’s my name.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question.”

“It’s what I want Korean people to call me.”

“I see, but I don’t understand it.”

“Don’t you talk to other androids? You probably talk to them differently from how you talk me or even Hank.”

“I don’t talk with a lot of androids outside of work purposes.”

It was a startling statement. Eve was curious as to why Connor didn’t talk with many androids, but as if he were some sort of mind reader, Connor had an answer for this.

“I was programmed to integrate with humans more easily. Even with deviancy, I find it easier to get along with humans,” Connor said.

“But you don’t feel any sort of kinship with other androids?” Eve asked.

“It’s more like the other way around.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s complicated.”

At the right moment, a little girl peaked her head around the door to the kitchen. Her eyes seemed to pop as she noticed Eve in her booth.

“Eve!” the little girl said as she bounded over to Eve.

“Sophie!” Eve said.

“Imo said you were here.”

“And here I am. Ellie! Come over!”

Another girl came from the back of the restaurant, identical to the previous girl but with a shy demeanor and way more restraint. She stopped at the booth and kept staring at Connor until she decided to sit next to him.

“What’s your name mister?” Sophie asked.

“My name is Connor,” he said.

“Okay Mr. Connor.”

“You can just call me Connor.”

“Okay Mr. Connor. Why do you have that thing on your head? Why’s it blue? How do you know Eve? Do you like Eve? Do you have any pets? I want a pet, but my mom won’t let me get one. Do you have a mom? What’s your favorite color?”

Connor nodded along before he smiled. “This thing on my head is an LED. I have one because I’m an android. It’s blue because I’m content and not processing anything that requires much thought at the moment. I know Eve because we work together. I do like Eve. I have a dog. His name is Sumo. I don’t have a mom, but I do have a dad. My favorite color? That’s a tough question, but I think it’s blue.”

Sophie’s jaw dropped. “You’re so cool! Just like Eve! Eve’s the coolest person I know!”

“Tough act to follow, I know,” Eve said.

“I could give you some competition though. Sophie, do you want to see something neat?” Connor asked.

“Yes!”

“Watch.”

Connor took out the quarter in his back pocket. He showed the quarter off to Sophie before he leaned back and then shot the quarter from one hand to the other. Sophie’s eyes darted as they watched Connor work what seemed like magic. Eve hadn’t been sure before, but as she looked into Connor’s eyes and saw how he concentrated, she realized that this must have been how he recalibrated. She could see the slight readjustments in his movements, fine tuning an already precise person. Just more proof that Connor was state of the art as far as androids went.

Even beyond that, it was mesmerizing just to look at Connor with his brown eyes that looked lovely in the sunlight and the freckles that Eve always lost count of. If Eve stared at him any longer, she feared she’d really be trapped like Gabi said she would be. She didn’t want to be thinking about him that way. Experience told her that getting involved with your coworker in anyway was dangerous territory. She needed to squash any chance of a crush.

Eve bit her lip. As soon as she did, Connor had broke concentration and dropped his coin. His LED burned a bright red. Sophie pointed at his forehead.

“Hey Mr. Connor, why is your thing red?” Sophie asked.

“It is? Ah, I was thinking of something,” Connor said.

“Okay. Can you do that trick again?”

“Maybe later. Eve is very tired, and she needs to go home to get some rest.”

“Connor is right, kiddo. I have to get going. Tell your mom I said hi,” Eve said.

Sophie and Ellie hugged Eve. Sophie then gave Connor a hug while Ellie stared up at Connor with wide eyes. She gave Connor a quick hug and bolted for the back of the restaurant. Eve laughed to herself as Connor tried to process Ellie’s hug. She liked watching the yellow circling in his LED.

“Don’t think too much about it,” Eve said.

After Eve paid for her meal, Connor and Eve walked to her car. She closed her eyes, smiled, and basked in the sunlight. She must have been looking strange to Connor because he was staring at her when she opened her eyes.

“I’m having a good day filled with people that I really like right now,” Eve said.

“Even me?”

“Yeah, even you.”

“So we’re on good terms again.”

“I’d say so. Oh, since we’re on good terms, your words, can you drive me home? Please?”

Connor made funny little smile at Eve as she placed her keys in his hand.

“Only because you’re my favorite partner,” Connor said.

“Ooh, I’m so going to dangle that in front of Hank. You can’t take it back.”

“I don’t plan to.”

When they were back in the car, Eve pressed the button for her home into the GPS. She immediately closed her eyes and then dozed off again. She kept murmuring in her sleep, saying “favorite partner”. Connor couldn’t help himself and smiled the entire time he drove.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off sorry about how long this chapter is. Secondly, sorry that I have like a million notes for this chapter. Also I'm not sorry for either of those things now that I think about it.
> 
> -I'm obsessed with the show The Good Place, and I admit that I took two of some of my favorite lines from that show in this chapter. Additionally, sometimes I'm inspired by Janet when I'm writing Connor.  
> -As far as Eve's arm, we'll get into it. Promise. I've honestly had a lot of changes to this fic in regards to how she lost her arm and what her arm actually does now (Like there are versions of the story that I drew up where Eve lost her arm because of a former partner that became a deviant android or there was a chapter in which Eve got trapped in the Zen Garden. I had a ton of ideas).  
> -Mrs. Oh is straight up my mom, a middle-aged Korean woman who wants nothing more than for me to get married and have kids. Although my mom is not nearly as embarrassing as Mrs. Oh is.  
> -애인 = ae-in = lover. Mrs. Oh is just trying to make Eve embarrassed.  
> -아니요 = aniyo= no.  
> -Eve's name Seorin is written as 서린 in Korean. It kind of sounds like you're saying the word "serene" when you say it. Eve is actually named after my little cousin who would actually be about Eve's age in the events of this story.  
> -100% there are going to be some Korean words that I don't exactly know how to romanize. Imo is one of those. 이모 = ee-mo. Imo is one of the Korean words for aunt. It's use to specify your mother's sister. In this case, Sophie is actually talking about Pilson because she thinks of her as her mom's sister.  
> -Aw shit, Eve is starting to catch some feels. Queue in that Calvin Harris song "Feels"  
> -And now we've met most of the people in Eve's life! We'll meet Minji soon, and we'll be much further along when we finally meet Eve's mom.
> 
> -Okay, so last week I mentioned having an AU of the previous chapter that was basically just pure smut. This is still in the works. However, it would definitely be appreciated if you shout it out loudly for me that you would like this AU chapter because I am rusty at writing smut and could use some encouragement. If you want that chapter (which I will create in a separate work on here), please tell me.


	9. Disney Princes Get Weird Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to you readers. I really appreciate all of you who read this fic.
> 
> Also... I do have the explicit rating on this fic and today's chapter is definitely... smutty at the end. So, just an FYI.

Eve must have been dreaming. At least, that’s how she felt as Connor woke her up as he pulled over in front of her apartment building. Her head felt hazier than usual. Probably from the sad blips of sleep she was getting, she thought. She couldn’t remember falling asleep, just Connor gently tapping her shoulder and telling her to wake up. She rubbed her eyes.

“What’s up?” Eve asked.

“We’re at your apartment,” Connor said.

“Just pull into the garage. My parking spot is number 16.”

Connor nodded and parked the car as instructed.

“Hey, do you want to meet Tibbs?” Eve asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Your cat, Sergeant Tibbs?” Connor said.

“Yeah, you got me home, and I feel like you might as well come up if you were interested. I’m in a very good mood right now.”

“You’re also slightly disoriented. So it would be beneficial for me to assist you in getting you into your apartment.”

“Well that’s where I’m just going to disagree with you. I am very fine.”

As Eve got out from the car, she felt her legs wobble a bit. She held onto her car before Connor came up beside her and placed a stabilizing hand on her hip to pull her closer to him. Eve knew androids were stronger than most humans, and Connor was no different. She could feel how strong he was without even putting any exertion. Yet, Connor’s touch had a gentleness in it.

“Just lean on me,” Connor said.

“Okay. You know you don’t have to do this,” Eve said.

“It’s not an issue. Besides, you said I could meet Sergeant Tibbs.”

“You’re too excited to meet my cat. That’s for sure.”

“I’m at the appropriate level of excitement to meet your cat.”

They took the elevator up to Eve’s apartment. Eve noticed Connor take out his quarter. He started to play around with it, flicking it and catching it in the air between his fingers. When the elevator stopped, he made a sigh and placed the quarter into his back pocket. Eve could have sworn he was anxious.

“So welcome to my humble abode. Take your shoes off,” Eve said.

Connor’s eyes wandered around Eve’s apartment. He certainly was taking in every bit of her apartment and analyzing it to death.

“Hank and I’s house could fit into your apartment almost twice over,” Connor said.

“I do own the entire floor,” Eve said as she went to her kitchen and took some pills with a glass of water.

“It might not be particularly appropriate for me to mention this, but I am aware of how much you and I both earn as detectives as well as what Hank earns as a lieutenant. And the combined salaries of all three of us would not be able to afford even a third of this floor.”

“And?”

“It was an observation. Additionally, I noticed that you own a painting by Carl Manfred, and some of your furniture appears to be original midcentury modern pieces. Your Barcelona chair and Eames lounge chair, for example.”

“Yeah… I have some money saved up.”

“I see.”

Connor wandered back to the kitchen and observed Eve as she took out a can of cat food from her refrigerator. Inside Eve’s fridge were several glass containers labeled with the date and meal and perfectly pre-measured bags of ingredients. Eve was a big believer in mise en place.

“You eat healthier than Hank,” Connor said.

“This could all be an elaborate lie,” Eve said.

“Except that you appear to be in exceptional physical condition. Also, almost everyone I know eats healthier than Hank does. It is not a hard thing for any human to accomplish. You have consumed more vegetables in one meal than Hank has in the time I’ve known him.”

“Wow… this is all not surprising. Also, surprised that Hank hasn’t had a heart attack.”

“I’ve made adjustments to his diet, and he is now taking Lipitor. So, it is a work in progress.”

Eve shook her head and smiled to herself. She then grabbed Tibbs’ dish and started to put food in for Tibbs. Like a siren’s song, the sound of Eve scooping out food had Tibbs right at her heels. Tibbs jumped onto the kitchen island and started to press her head against Eve’s arm.

“Well I missed you too Tibbs,” Eve said.

As soon as Eve scooped out the last bit of food, Tibbs was headfirst in her food. Connor stared at Tibbs, smiling at the black and white cat in front of him. When Tibbs finished her food, Eve quickly wrangled Tibbs and held her in front of Connor.

“This is Tibbs. Tibbs, say hi to Connor,” Eve said, taking Tibbs’ paw in hand and waving it at Connor. “Meow! See, she said hi.”

“You clearly made that sound yourself,” Connor said.

Eve peeked from behind Tibbs’ head. “Prove it.”

“Cats sound like this when they vocalize.”

At that moment, Connor mimicked the sound of a cat meowing. Eve’s eyes widened. She pushed Tibbs in front of Connor’s face.

“Speak cat to Tibbs! Tell Tibbs that I love her in cat!” Eve said.

“I don’t speak cat. I can just mimic the sound. Besides, cats only really vocalize for humans,” Connor said.

Eve pouted, her dreams instantly crushed. She walked over by Connor and held Tibbs out for him.

“How do I hold her?” Connor asked.

“Oh, let me show you,” Eve said.

Eve held Tibbs close to her chest, letting Tibbs rest her little head on her shoulder while her hand cradled Tibb’s behind. Connor nodded and then reached out for Tibbs. Tibbs yelped before Connor repeated what he saw Eve do. Tibbs was slightly restless in his arms, but Connor didn’t appear to be distressed by this.

“Tibbs likes it when you scratch the back of her ears or her chin,” Eve said.

Connor made an experimental scratch behind Tibbs’ ear. Tibbs leaned into Connor’s finger. Almost instantly, Tibbs was purring loudly. Connor smiled widely.

“I think she likes me,” Connor said.

“Well, the key to Tibbs’ heart is food and scratchies. So you got half the equation there,” Eve said.

“Speaking of being liked, Sophie and Ellie seemed to really like me.”

“Well, they’re 5, and Sophie likes everyone. As for Ellie, she basically only watches Disney movies. She’s obsessed with them, and you basically look like a Disney prince to her.”

“I do?”

Eve shrugged. “A little. If you break out into song, I’ll know for sure.”

“I do not randomly break out in song.”

“I’m sure you can sing better than me though.”

“I like the way you sing.”

Eve cackled and shook her head. What was up with Connor, she thought. She once heard Connor had partnership programming before. Maybe lying about Eve’s singing was part of that.

“You’re lying,” Eve said.

Connor tapped his LED. It was glowing blue.

“Not lying.” He made a smug smile.

“Fine, fine. Well, at least they like you.”

“Can I ask you something about them though?”

“Sure.”

“Both you and Sophie talk about their mother a lot. What happened to their father?”

“Their dad is out of the picture. Minji divorced him a couple years ago. I think he only see the girls in like every other weekend. He used to beat Minji. Now he’s unemployed and basically lives at this bar. It’s this anti-android place, at least back in the day. I think it’s actually close to the station.”

“Jimmy’s Bar. The man- is his name Yohan Kim?”

Eve’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah, how do you know?” Eve asked.

“Hank frequents that bar himself. I’ve seen him around,” Connor said.

“Go figure. Whatever you do, if you see him again, don’t mention anything about knowing me or the girls. He gets really violent. I don’t know what he would do if he knew I was back.”

“Something happen?”

“I’m the one who reported him to the police. He got slapped with a domestic abuse charge, and he thinks I’m the reason why he can’t see the kids instead of the fact that he beat his ex-wife and he’s an alcoholic. I don’t know. It just gets me riled up thinking about it.”

Connor set Tibbs down. He placed a reassuring hand on Eve’s shoulder.

“Maybe you should get some sleep then. You do need sleep, and I’m only keeping you from that. I’ll see you later. Tell me if you hear anything from your friend,” Connor said.

“My friend?” Eve said.

“The one that worked at CyberLife. You said she could look into the incident with the android.”

“Oh- that friend. Yeah, I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry about it. She’s pretty good at this kind of thing.”

“That’s good to hear. See you later, Eve.”

As soon as Connor left, Eve ran back to her room and passed out on her bed, not even bothering to wrap herself in any blankets. By the time she woke up, it was already pitch black dark out. She cursed a little about how she would never be able to fall asleep and wake up at a reasonable time for the next day. However, it was at those moments that Eve found herself most productive. So Eve decided to work on fixing her arm and Connor’s issue with the android.

In the other half of the floor that Eve owned was Eve’s workshop. It was a pristine environment with white walls and concrete floors. There were racks of parts organized in bins and refrigerators filled with chemicals and new thirium formulas. The last time Gabi visited, she said it looked like something out of that  _ Westworld _ show. Eve rolled her eyes at that. She just liked a neutral workspace, and her tastes always sided a bit on the minimalist side.

“So Tibbs, what do you think of Connor?” Eve asked Tibbs as she sat down at her workstation in the middle of the room.

Tibbs jumped up on Eve’s workstation and meowed. Eve gave a little scratch behind Tibb’s ears before returning her attention to her terminal to look at the data sets from Connor and her arm.

“Yeah, he is kind of cute,” Eve said.

Eve typed away at the code. Code was never her strong suit, but she joked around that she knew enough to be dangerous. She could always do enough to piss off Kamski when they were working together. She’d futz around with lines she thought wouldn’t matter as a test to see if she could do something. That’s how she always was as a kid.

Eve partly blamed her father for this kind of attitude. He was always encouraging Eve to do things just because she could do them or prove to people that she could do anything. The only problem being that all of a sudden you get hailed as some sort of genius and wind up alienated from any person your own age. At least, this was Eve’s case. She didn’t fault her father for his encouragement. It honestly made her fearless in some regards- the kind of fearlessness that let her stand up against assholes like Yohan Kim and set her mind free to create the first ever functioning biocomponent.

Lines and lines of code zipped past Eve’s eyes as she set programs to search for similar responses. Maybe it was staring at the endless amount of data Connor collected, but Eve’s mind drifted to Connor. What Eve knew about Connor, she could probably easily list. Yet there were things about him that felt so complicated that maybe Connor didn’t even know that it was complicated. For one, Connor told her that he didn’t get along well with other androids. She didn’t know what to make of that, and his reason as to why that was just left her with more questions. The other thing had to deal with last night. Despite the fact that he was deviant, it appeared that he still depended on programing and mission based work when the going really got tough. It was funny thing to Eve that Connor returned to machine basics when he felt scared, but it didn’t surprise her. After all, humans always returned to their nature in the same situations.

Still, Eve really did like Connor. He made things easier for her around the police department, and he seemed to be genuine in his care for her. Although, Eve could have used a little less babying from him. On the other hand, she thought, he had those adorable freckles and melt-your-heart brown eyes.

“I can’t find him anything more than cute. Anything more than that, and I’ll be in trouble,” Eve said as she slapped her desk.

Tibbs meowed some more and pranced around Eve’s workspace.

“I know Connor isn’t like other guys. He’s not going to be the kind of guy that just steals my ideas and then creates a multi-billion dollar company off of those stolen ideas. And he probably wouldn’t force me to have sex with him and then gift me with the first sex robot for my birthday to prove a point about android lovers,” Eve said.

Eve rested her head on her hand and sighed. She scratched Tibbs’ chin before returning to her terminal.

“Liking someone makes everything weird. I can’t have that right now,” Eve said.

Tibbs rested her little head on Eve’s desk and went to sleep. Eve shrugged as she made the last adjustments to the code on her arm. As she uploaded the changes, she flexed her arm and watched the sun rise. She walked up to the window and leaned against it. She took out her phone and stared Connor’s contact information. Several deleted would-be drafts later, she sent a text to Connor telling him that she had the fix.

Connor appeared not too long after Eve’s text. It was one of the only times Eve saw Connor look so casual. He was wearing plain gray t-shirt with a navy blue cardigan and jeans. He still looked prim in comparison to her in what she called her comfy shorts and an old MIT t-shirt that had been washed so many times that the ink had cracked and started to peel.

“Hey, thanks for coming. I know you probably had way better things to do on the one day we have off,” Eve said.

“You’re welcome, and it’s not really an issue if it means fixing that problem. Besides, I’m rather fond of Sergeant Tibbs in the short time that we got to know each other,” Connor said.

“Yeah. Tibbs missed you too. So, my friend made some patch for you. She said there was some sort of jamming signal that can really scramble your systems. Well more like it just interrupts programming. But still, this fix should stop it. That android shouldn’t be an issue unless it has some more freaky tricks up its sleeve.”

Connor’s LED turned yellow for a second as he looked slightly confused at what Eve was saying.

“The sleeve is metaphorical,” Eve said.

“I could tell.”

Eve gestured to her sofa and grabbed a tablet and cable.

“We should get comfortable,” Eve said.

“Okay. I don’t really need to be comfortable, but if you do, I’d be happy to oblige,” Connor said as he sat down on the sofa.

“Oh… uh, you might want to sit more to the side. Also, I need to access your port,”Eve said as she gestured to behind her neck. “You might need to take off your sweater and deactivate your skin for a moment.”

“Sorry. I’ll just take that off.”

Connor removed his cardigan and tugged his shirt down so Eve would be able to access his port. Eve sat directly behind Connor and an inserted the cable into his port as soon as he peeled back his synthetic skin.

“Sorry, it should only take a second,” Eve said.

“It’s fine, Eve,” Connor.

“If you say so.”

“I do seeming as it’s already done downloading.”

Eve gently removed the cable from Connor’s port and set it aside. As Connor moved to get up, he had forgotten about one of Eve’s legs and tumbled down on top of Eve. She found him staring down at her, slightly shocked and LED circling in red. He pulled back and immediately turned away from Eve.

“Something has just come up!” Connor said.

“Anything I can help with?” Eve said.

“No! I’m sorry. No. I have to get home.”

“Do you need me to call a cab?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Connor ran out of Eve’s apartment, leaving Eve sitting on the couch holding onto her cable and tablet. She sighed and leaned back, thinking about the back of Connor’s neck. Way to make things weird, Eve thought.

  
  


Connor almost didn’t bother grabbing a cab home. He could have ran straight home instead because he couldn’t contain the amount of embarrassment he got as he bolted from Eve’s apartment. He didn’t want to know what she thought about him and why he left without much of anything but a simple goodbye. All he knew was that what was going on in his body was what normally didn’t go on in an android.

When he got home, Connor rushed to the bathroom and locked the door. He took off his clothes and sat down in the bathtub. He ran the cold water, not sure why he would believe in human tales about cold showers. He didn’t have a human body. Why would that even work for him? Instead, he stared between his legs and recognized that his problem would not go away until he just took care of it. Why, of all the times he had been with Eve, did he get an erection?

Connor closed his eyes and took hold of his hard cock, rubbing up and down its length. He thought of Eve, but she was the only thing he could think of anyway. He wondered what it would be like to be with her. He had only caught a glimpse of what it looked like for her to beneath him, and it was enough to get him in this state. He was beholden to his deviant desires with the moans he couldn’t quite stop or the desperation he had as he thrust into his fist. He chased after his release, seeking only to drown in pleasure. A few moment later, and almost too soon in his opinion, Connor came. He sat up and washed the cum off of his body. He looked back down, relieved that his penis returned to its normal state.

After Connor got out of the bathroom, he ran into Hank. Hank was reading a book and stopped to look at Connor.

“You look like shit. Whatever you did in the bathroom, it didn’t help,” Hank said.

“Did you hear me?” Connor asked.

“Hear you? No. I just got here.”

“Oh. Good.”

“You have a good time at Eve’s?”

Connor scratched his head and smiled. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I love cats, and Connor being super excited about meeting Sergeant Tibbs is indeed the right amount of excitement to meet a cat.  
> -The dialogue about Ellie thinking Connor is a Disney prince was actually something that was supposed to be in last week's chapter. I moved it to this chapter once I could get it to work.  
> -Fun fact, the game has Yohan's name as Kim Yohan. Kim is a Korean last name, and that kind of naming convention (last name first and first name last) is standard if he were in Korea... but he is not. So that's why it's switched.  
> -I think this might be the first chapter where I've really mentioned anything about the nature of Eve's relationship with Kamski. It's gonna be rough, and he is not a good person at all in this fic. Sorry if you like Kamski... but also not sorry.  
> -I know what you all are thinking. You're thinking, "Did Eve create Ra9???". I'm just going to stop you all right now and say no. She didn't create Ra9 in any fashion, but we will get into Ra9 in the future.  
> -It is a coincidence that I wrote this little smutty vignette at the same time I also posted Blue Electric. Strangely, Connor getting an awkward boner was always a part of this chapter.
> 
> Speaking of Blue Electric... If you were interested in the filthy AU of Chapter 7 in which Eve and Connor have sex to obtain information for their case... you are in luck because it now exists on Blue Electric. Blue Electric will be where I put extras for this story. So stay tuned in the future for any updates to that: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17925605/chapters/42327563.
> 
> Next chapter... we're back to some violent crimes.


	10. The Devil Works Overtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All apologies for posting this late. I had a crazy day yesterday/today, and I'm currently super busy at my work right now.
> 
> A ton of thanks to all of you that read this. I know I say that each time, but honestly it's super cool that people are reading what I'm writing.
> 
> Also, I think this chapter can be a little gory. At least, that's how I felt writing it. So if you're a little squeamish you might want to skip the middle or whatever.

Eve had been pulling at the sleeves of Connor’s sweater as they were driving to a crime scene. She was wrapping herself in the cardigan as if it was just a blanket she needed to cozy up in. Connor learned the hard way that Eve had a penchant for stealing clothes from men that left clothes at her apartment. He was her latest victim after his mad dash out of her apartment. Connor was having the worst of it, to say the least. From the sweater to the incident from the other day, Connor started to believe that being deviant was actually terrible if one had to deal with Eve Park.

“Don’t stretch my sweater like that,” Connor said.

“I can’t help it. I just want it to envelop me. It’s like the perfect oversized sweater on me, and it’s very cozy and soft. Is this like all wool?” Eve asked.

“It’s 100% merino wool, and I would appreciate you returning it back to me. It took me weeks to knit that.”

Eve admired the sweater and smirked at Connor.

“First off, why am I not surprised that you have the hobby of a grandma? Second, it really completes my look today, and I think I look better than you do in this,” Eve said.

Connor didn’t want to touch that comment. Eve did, in fact, look cute in his sweater. She would probably look good in all of his clothes, and that was the problem. It filled him with absurd fantasies that he wanted to tamper down. Never before had Connor found the prospect of dead people a welcome relief from life.

“This house is absurd,” Eve said as they approached a moderately sized mansion.

While the house was not the largest in the community, it was certainly the most ostentatious. The housing market for opulent mansions like the one they were visiting had grown considerably with CyberLife’s success and the businesses that moved to Detroit to piggyback off that very success. Connor imagined that these kinds of mansions were tacky to Eve. She was the kind of person that exuded a metropolitan cool that had no interest in flaunting wealth with a gross mansion.

“I would remind you that this house likely costs less than your apartment,” Connor said.

“You don’t know that,” Eve said.

As soon as Eve had said that, Connor pulled up various property tax and real estate records. He already knew that Eve’s apartment cost more money than someone like Hank could ever dream of accumulating in their lifetime, but knowing the actual number raised all kinds of questions for Connor.

“This house costs $1.5 million less than your apartment,” Connor said.

“You don’t say,” Eve said. “I can’t wait for your opinion about my place in Chicago.”

“Is it also exorbitantly expensive?”

Eve cackled and stretched the sleeves of Connor’s sweater over her hands.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Eve said.

“I am almost positive that it is,” Connor said.

“What would you do if it was?”

“I’d ask you why do you work as a detective if you’re worth millions.”

Eve stopped walking and turned around to smile at Connor.

“Maybe I just like being a detective, and maybe I’m not worth millions,” she said.

The two of them passed by the swarms of police officers and the CSI. Neighbors were out in droves, rubbernecking and texting away to neighborhood friends who couldn’t make it. The officers on scene were having a hard time wrangling people away. They looked relieved when Connor and Eve approached. Two people they didn’t have to worry about.

“Detectives, Officer Miller is waiting for you inside,” one of the officers said.

“Lead the way,” Eve said to Connor.

“Me?” Connor said.

“You said you were going to lead the investigation when you drove us here.”

“I guess so.”

“I can always lead if you want.”

“I would let you if you give me back my sweater.”

“I would, but it is really cold right now. So, lead the way, partner.”

Connor shook his head and headed into the house. Inside, there was more room for everyone to spread out and look for evidence. Eve pulled on a glove onto her right hand and scanned around the area before she happened upon a nondescript white plastic box. It had been partially destroyed and removed from its spot in the vestibule with the remaining plastic parts strewn on the floor. She picked up the box and examined it.

“Well, what do we have here? This looks like this is part of a security system. Slightly outdated, but this should have some footage that we can analyze,” Eve said.

“It’s damaged. You’re not going to be able to get the footage in this condition without interfacing,” Connor said.

“That’s not an issue for us.”

“Then if you don’t mind.”

Before Connor could even reach out, Eve placed her left hand on the console. Synthetic skin peeled back and revealed her plastic hand. She closed her eyes and interfaced with the  device. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes, and the synthetic skin quickly turned back on. She rubbed her synthetic skin and looked back at Connor. His LED was turning yellow as he started to analyze her arm.

“You have biocomponents?” Connor said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t scan that information from me before.”

“You’re not under investigation. So it’s not necessary. Plus Hank described the behavior as ‘creepy’ and generally unwanted. The important thing is that you should be more careful. Human biocomponents are highly dangerous and experimental. The chance of malfunction from improperly interfacing using a human biocomponent is 79.9 4 %, and you would be of no use to anyone if you died interfacing when I could have done so without the risk.”

Human components were still a bit of a fantasy. The thirium required run high powered biocomponents like Connor’s was toxic to humans in extended periods of time. It wasn’t unheard of for humans that went through the procedures to die months after surgery. There was a high rejection rate, and some people still experienced excruciating pain. Most people didn’t find it worth the chance.

“Well I didn’t die. So yay me. Besides, I got the information. Stick out your hand,” Eve said.

“It’s much easier if I interface directly with the console. If you interface with me-“

“I know there are some very dangerous risks to this.”

“It also hasn’t been done successfully. It’s not worth the risk. Human biocomponents are-“

“Still being worked on. Believe me when I tell you that my biocomponents can handle it. Can you trust me?”

Eve held out her hand. Connor knew Eve wasn’t going to begin backing down. She was determined to try what had been impossible. She didn’t seem fazed by what others thought she couldn’t do.

“If you’re in pain, you need to tell me,” Connor said as he extended his hand.

Eve grabbed Connor’s hand. She made some deep breaths and started to interface with Connor. There was a jolt that passed through her body as the first pieces of information made it to him. She studied Connor’s face as he stared past her, deep in the process of collecting data. In this light, she  could see why Gabi insisted on calling him Detective Hot Bot . His eyes were warm and inviting, the kind that made you say all the wrong things because they distracted you. At that moment, those same eyes turned to hers. He smiled at her.  _ Did he hear that thought? _ Eve wondered. She didn’t know what kinds of information she could send to androids. Honestly, she had never had much success at interfacing with androids until now. Her stomach turned over at the thought that Connor could be rifling through her deepest secrets. What if he found out that as a kid she had a cat named goyangi because she thought all cats just had the name cat? Or that one of the reasons she wanted to be a detective had to deal with the fact that growing up she had crush on Andy Samberg’s character on  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine _ ?

_ Are you okay? _ Eve almost jumped back. She hadn’t thought that. She didn’t ask that. Her heart raced. Was that Connor? As the last bits of information were transmitted, she saw him mouth the words this time, but she could still hear the words in her head- this time more distinctly in Connor’s voice. She wanted to die from embarrassment, as the brief thought of Connor speaking to her like this had been the most intimate experience of her entire life. She never really stopped to contemplate if his voice was particularly pleasing before, but he might as well have been whispering sweet nothings to her.

Connor pulled back first. Eve stumbled backwards, but not before Connor quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back up. Interfacing with androids must have been exhausting for a human, but she was alive. She laughed loudly and took Connor by the shoulders.

“I did it... I actually did it. Did you get everything?” Eve said.

“Yes, and then some. You ought to be more careful about the information you’re passing while interfacing,” Connor said, looking down at Eve and her hands. 

Connor had heard the brief blip of Eve’s thoughts, the one about his voice and the one about a crush on a TV character. He pulled back from interfacing because if he could hear Eve’s thoughts, it was only a matter of time before she would pick up on his. He didn’t need her to know that he had touched himself for the first time to the image of her beneath him. Eve was a dangerous woman that didn’t have a clue of what she was capable of.

“Thanks Mom. I’ll keep that in mind,” Eve said as she danced away from Connor.

There were endless questions Connor wanted to ask about Eve about those biocomponents like who made it or why. The logical answer was that it was related to her last case with the Chicago Police Department. She didn’t divulge many details about it. He imagined that there were things she couldn’t say about her arm even if she wanted to. There could be more research that was being done on her arm, or the fact that legal action had been taken on her case preventing information being released. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter because her arm was remarkable. While she grabbed data at a slower rate than he did, she could acquire it without issue and transfer it to him. No human biocomponent had previously made such an accomplishment.

“Your biocomponents are incredibly advanced,” Connor said.

“Yeah, they are. It’s a prototype. I don’t have much data on interfacing with androids. So, this will be useful,” Eve said.

“I’m glad I could help then.”

“So, did you review the video file?”

“Yes, one of the victims actually greeted the suspect.”

“She knew him. I couldn’t really tell what the suspect looked like. Were you able to identify him?”

Connor smiled. “Of course I did. It was an AP700 series android.”

“Don’t act so smug.”

“I would never.”

“Now you’re just being sassy with me.”

Eve pulled up the case file from her phone.

“AP700? Matches up with what we know about the victims. They had an AP700 prior to the revolution. I suppose it remained with the family afterwards,” Eve said.

“Until a few weeks ago. I overheard  the neighbors saying that he stopped coming to the house weeks ago, and that a different housekeeper started this last week,” Connor said.

“Did anyone find out why?”

“It was mainly gossip, but it was implied that one of the victims, Julia Davis, was having an affair with the suspect.”

“How totally not unexpected.”

“I noticed the security footage stops after this meeting, but it’s possible that there’s someone who did want us to see the rest of that footage.”

“Looks like we should go up to the crime scene then.”

They walked up the staircase where the crime scene was. Eve paused at the top where there was a portrait of the family. The husband and wife were all smiles, and their daughter looking like she was about to laugh.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” Eve said.

“Tolstoy.  _ Anna Karenina _ ?” Connor said.

“Yeah. All of these families, there’s always something wrong with them. Hence people having affairs with their trusted house assistant.”

Officer Miller came out of the crime scene. He shook his head the entire time. When he looked up and saw Connor and Eve, he let out a heavy sigh.

“Before you go in there, I should warn you. I’ve seen some weird stuff before, but what’s in that room is disturbing on a different level,” Chris said.

Connor nodded. “Thanks for the warning.”

The detectives entered the crime scene. Chris liked to kid at work, but he was serious about this scene. The husband and wife from the portrait were killed and displayed in some gross theatrical way. The woman had limbs were tied to each post of the bed. She was gagged with a red silk tie that matched the blood stained sheets from her slit throat. The male victim had been bound to a chair facing the bed. Judging from the swollen, purple face and the a noose tied to his neck, Connor deduced asphyxiation as the cause of death. The man’s noose had been tied to the chair he was bound to. Analysis showed that the victim died trying to escape the chair. Strange, indecipherable symbols were carved into the skin of both victims.

“Hey,” Eve said, pointing to the symbols.

“Similar to the markings that appeared on that Aria but not the same,” Connor said.

“But our friend might be involved.”

“Possibly or this symbol is just a coincidence. Still, the rumors appear to be true about the suspect.”

Connor’s fingers dipped into a fluid on the bed sheets. Eve grabbed Connor’s hand before he could run the analysis on the fluid.

“There is like a 100% chance that’s semen. Let’s just have forensics figure that one out,” Eve said.

“But I could run the analysis on who it belongs to right now. For instance, the chances that this is artificial semen is high, but I can check to see if it matches the android model we’re looking for,” Connor said.

“I’m willing to wait for forensics so I don’t have to live through the secondhand embarrassment I will get from watching you lick a substance that may or may not be artificial semen. I cannot stress how inappropriate this looks.”

Connor’s LED glowed yellow for a brief moment before he stepped back from Eve.

“I can see why that made you uncomfortable,” Connor said.

“Please don’t tell me you just analyzed porn,” Eve said.

“No, but I think I’ve learned more about the particular sexual tastes of humans than I really needed to know.”

“It’s what makes humans fun and disturbing for all, Connor.”

Connor circled around the bed. There were no traces of fingerprints or other evidence containing DNA, which meant an android. But the crime scene was too elaborate for one android. Reconstructing the crime scene made him believe it was two androids.

“Eve, I believe two androids were involved in the crime. Our AP700 for one and the other one is unknown to me,” Connor said.

“You probably don’t like it that I’m going to say this, but I think it’s our android from before. I also think that’s why the android destroyed that security camera. The recording stopped after the first meeting, but you could tell that there was two recordings after that one,” Eve said.

“The security camera only captures recordings for when people are there in its view. The sensor captured three. Our first visitor, the second, and then one for when the suspects left.”

Eve tapped her head. She then waved her pointer finger at Connor.

“What if one of those people left and the other one is still here? We don’t know where the daughter is,” Eve said.

“We don’t. They were checking with some family and friends to see if she was there before. We should ask Chris what they know.”

Connor and Eve returned downstairs to where Chris and some of the other officers were.

“Hey Miller!” Eve said.

Chris hurried over to Connor and Eve.

“Do we know where the little girl is?” Eve asked.

“No. We’ve been looking around. We called everyone, and they said she wasn’t there. Plus this place is fucking huge. You can’t find anything here,” Chris said.

“Connor, how about we split up and look for her? We’ll cover more ground.”

“Sure. We should look upstairs if everyone is down here. I’ll go right,” Connor said.

“Sounds like a plan. If you find anything, communicate with me.”

Eve tapped on her left arm.

“I’ll hear you,” Eve said.

Connor nodded and ran off toward the corridor to the right. The hallway was dark and quiet. He wondered what the purpose of having a house so large if it went largely unoccupied. He opened the first door, which revealed an empty room with only a few furniture pieces shrouded with white sheets. The next room was just as empty as the first and covered in dust.

The room at the end of the corridor had been locked. Connor played with the handle. When the handle wouldn’t give, Connor slammed his shoulder into the door and knocked it loose. There was more covered furniture and artwork that had been resting anywhere there was room. It was like the fancier version of the junk heap he had seen at Carlos Ortiz’s house with vintage chairs imported from France instead of a stack of rotting old fashioned pornographic magazines. The one piece not covered up was a wardrobe huddled into a corner at the end of the room. Connor noticed a sheet had been discarded beside the wardrobe.

Connor opened the door. In the dark of the wardrobe, he saw the red glow of an LED. Pressed against the corner of the wardrobe, the AP700 android shivered, gripping to the couple’s daughter, who had been sleeping in his arms. She couldn’t have been much older than Sophie and Ellie, but she seemed so small in this android’s arms. Connor reached out to the android. He was in a state of shock and barely registered that Connor was in front of him.

“Hello, my name is Connor. I’m with the Detroit Police Department,” Connor said.

The android’s eyes fell to the gun at Connor’s hip.

“I’m not going to shoot you, but you and this girl need some attention. Okay?” Connor said, baring his hands to the android.

“That android. He’s out there!” the AP700 said.

“There are no other androids here besides us and a few police officers.”

“He killed her! He killed Julia, and I couldn’t do anything. I let her die. She died alone without me. She was so scared. I was so scared.”

Tears were streaming down the android’s face. He was trembling and starting to shake the child enough that she finally woke up.

“Alex, Alex, where’s mommy?” she said.

The android kept crying like he had been stuck in a loop. He was a lost cause, Connor thought. Connor took out his badge and flashed it at the girl.

“I’m Detective Anderson. Can you tell me your name?” Connor said.

“I’m Maggie,” she said.

“Maggie? That’s a nice name. Maggie, are you able to move?”

“Alex won’t move.”

Without the android’s cooperation, Connor was stuck. He didn’t know the android’s deactivation codes, but he knew he could do the same through a probe. So he reached out for the android’s hand. There was a jerk of the arm at the initial touch. The code in the other android had been corrupted, like someone had put that in him. Connor attempt to deactivate him. It was like moving the pins on a lock until it was finally picked. There was a part of him that told him to stop, but he couldn’t get the girl out of there until he could deactivate the android. What he couldn’t hear as he was deactivating the android was Maggie screaming. His synthetic skin was peeling away the further he got to deactivating the android.

When Connor completed the deactivation, he pried the android’s arms open. Maggie didn’t move an inch. She was crying. Nothing he could say to her now would stop her tears.

“Hello? Connor?”

Eve came into the room. When Maggie saw Eve, she bolted for Eve and clutched at Eve’s legs. Eve looked at Connor as his synthetic skin peeled back onto his body. She took out her phone and made a call.

“Miller, I need someone to take a look at this girl. Yeah, get an ambulance. I need some officers here to get the android,” Eve said. “Connor, are you okay?”

Connor stood over the android. He stared at his hand until the freckled skin he was used to returned.

“Yeah,” Connor said.

“Okay, if you say so,” Eve said.

Eve crouched down to the little girl.

“Hi, I’m Detective Park. I’m going to help you out. Okay?” Eve said.

“Okay… are you a human?” she asked.

“Yeah. See this scar on my arm? I got it when I fell off the swings at the playground when I was your age. Crazy, huh?”

Eve pushed the sleeve up her right arm and pointed to a faint scar on her forearm. The little girl reached out and touched the scar.

“Hey, some people want to take a look at you and make sure you’re alright. I want to make sure you’re alright too. So, how about you come with me?” Eve said.

Eve took the girl’s hand and walked her out of the room, leaving Connor to wait in the room until backup came. When they came by, Connor decided to stay and think. Being an android wasn’t ever an issue for Connor. He never had to deal with any negative comments about him that he didn’t just shrug off. He just never thought he would be someone’s nightmare. He only wanted to protect people.

Connor stepped outside and let out a sigh. The ambulance was already there to pick up the little girl, and Chris had taken the android to the station. Eve was dealing with the officers, but she ran back to Connor when she saw him.

“Hey there,” Eve said.

“Hi,” Connor said.

“I know you’re not okay even when you tell me you are. It’s okay if things are not okay. That little girl saw some things tonight that are so wildly beyond what she understands. It’ll be a long time before she can really process this night. This night has been just entirely scary for her. Someday, she’s going to realize that you were the good guy, and you were helping her out.”

“It’s not just that. There are other things that are bothering me.”

“Yeah, I can tell. You know you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

Connor touched his sleeve and looked down at his arm.

“It’s an expression about wearing your emotions openly. You probably don’t realize it, but you do it a lot. So, what’s going on?” Eve said.

“Eve, most humans with biocomponents die within months of integration,” Connor said.

“I’m aware of this, but I’ve had my arm for over a year now.”

“You could die any day though.”

“I could die any day with or without this arm. That’s part of being a human.”

“But you shouldn’t have to die so soon. If you were to die, I… I don’t know.”

_ I would be scared _ , Connor thought. Hearing that other android talk about how scared he was for that human he had been in love with had been jarring to Connor. He felt scared for Eve, and he realized that being scared for Eve meant something more to him than just hoping a friend was okay.

“I’m not going to die immediately. The reality is that my body will have to piece by piece be replaced with plastic parts until that’s just my body,” Eve said.

“And that doesn’t scare you?” Connor said.

Eve sat down on the curb and patted a side of the curb next to her. Connor took his place by her side.

“Of course I’m scared. I’m scared more than I show. I’m scared to show people who I really am with this arm. I’m scared that every time they’ll replace a body part that I’ll lose a bit of myself. There’s a lot to be scared about, but there’s also a lot more for me to be happy about. For instance, we’re friends, and you trust me enough to tell me how you feel about things,” Eve said.

“There are things I still can’t tell you though,” Connor said.

“That’s okay. There are things I can’t tell you, but we’re getting there.”

Connor nodded. If he couldn’t tell Eve everything, he still wanted to say something to her. Before, it would have been the kind of thing he would have said flippantly or something that just didn’t matter so much. Now, it felt like that had weight.

“You know I’ve had my body replaced before,” Connor said.

“Yeah? How did it feel?” Eve asked.

“I don’t know. I woke up with all of these memories in this body. I knew that I had lost my previous body, and that was it. I couldn’t really miss what felt the same. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t totally the same. I think now it would feel different.”

“Being deviant probably gives a good perspective on that. Did I ever tell you that I am left handed? You probably noticed anyway. I’m still left handed. That’s how my brain has been wired, but sometimes my brain just gets this feeling that my left arm isn’t my left arm. I guess this arm doesn’t totally feel the same for me. Still, I really like having this arm, and I really liked being able to interface with you. It’s a miracle, honestly. I’ve attempted to interface with all sort of makes and models of androids, and you’re the only android I’ve been able to interface with. So thanks for obliging me. And, uh, this is yours.”

Eve shouldered off the cardigan and held it in front of Connor. He took it in hand. It already smelled a little like Eve. He looked down at the cardigan before placing it back onto Eve’s shoulders and buttoning the first button.

“It’s cold tonight. It would be unwise for you to not wear another layer,” Connor said as he fixed the collar.

“You sure?” Eve asked.

Eve placed her hands over Connor’s and looked up at him with doe eyes. Connor smiled.  _ Yeah, just bring it back tomorrow.  _ Eve seemed less freaked out this time about Connor talking to her so directly. She looked happy to be able to tell this time.  _ Hey if you don’t watch it, I’m going to steal this for real.  _ Connor laughed.  _ I can knit you a sweater just like this one if you wanted.  _ Eve grinned.  _ Thank you. I can’t wait. Now let’s go home. _ Connor nodded. _ Let’s go home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Eve's gonna steal more clothes from Connor. Just sayin'  
> -I like to knit, and I like the idea of Connor picking up knitting as a hobby. It's very soothing!  
> -Duh, that sweater exists in real time, and Connor and Eve would totes be adorable in it: https://www.brooklyntweed.com/shop/shield/  
> -What Eve actually wanted to say besides "and maybe I'm not worth millions" is "maybe I'm actually worth billions". But really, Eve is worth billions. It'll be discussed.  
> -Like all of my chapters, there's always alternative versions of things that people are saying/thinking, and I played a lot with what Connor and Eve are saying to each other while interfacing for the first time. Eve originally had a full on debate with herself about whether or not Connor was hot.  
> -goyangi = 고양이 = cat in Korean (you say it like go-yang-ee -the 'a' is a long 'a' sound).  
> -I imagine if you were interfacing for the first time and you were a human, it would be insane to hear someone else's voice in your head.  
> -Everyone hug Connor, damnit.  
> -Yes, it is actually special that Connor can interface with Eve.  
> -These two dorks aren't going to kiss each other any time soon. So I'm just going to kill you guys with moments like this.


	11. The Discomfort Zone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million apologies. I really meant to get everything posted two days ago. However, there were some things that happened at work, which made it really hard for me to work on this. I'll try to get this out Tuesday-Wednesday, but since I'll be busy at work, the chapter might come a little later. I'll always try to get a chapter out each week though.
> 
> Additionally, many thanks to any of you that read this. Also, lots of thanks to the people who leave comments and kudos. If you ever want to leave a comment or question, I'll answer it (or try to).

Sumo was being a good boy, a very good boy as he patiently sat up waiting for Connor to fill his bowl with food. His tail wagged in anticipation. Hank almost felt bad as he cracked open a can of beer and sat down at the kitchen dining table to eat dinner.

“Hank, have you seen the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine?” Connor asked as he placed Sumo’s food dish on the floor.

Hank finished his sip of beer and wiped his face with his sleeve.

“Yeah, classic,” Hank said.

Connor took a seat at the table across from Hank.

“Detective Park liked that show. I think I should watch it,” Connor said.

Hank scratched his chin and nodded.

“We should start watching that tonight then,” Hank said.

Hank dug into the lukewarm, leftover spaghetti on his plate. Connor took out his quarter and flipped it into the air.

“Hank, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Connor asked as he caught quarter, mid-air and proceeded to flick the quarter back and forth between his fists.

“Sure, shoot,” Hank said.

“I like Eve not just as my partner at work or even my friend. I find myself to be sexually attracted to her.”

“Whoa, I’m just going to stop you there. So you really do like her? I was just teasing you two before. I thought you preferred androids.”

“No, that was just something you made up to harass me.”

Hank shrugged.

“As I was saying, I’m attracted to Eve in a sexual way, which lead to an awkward situation the other day,” Connor said.

“Well as long as you didn’t have a boner, it couldn’t have been that embarrassing,” Hank said.

Connor didn’t say anything. He looked away, stopping his quarter mid-air.

“Oh shit. You didn’t. I didn’t think that was something you did or even had,” Hank said as he gestured to his crotch.

“Well, I do, and it turns out I can,” Connor said.

“Does, uh, Eve know you’re packing heat?”

“No.”

Hank shrugged. “So it’s not that big of a deal! She probably didn’t see your boner, and I bet you just took care of business. It’s all good.”

“It’s not all good, Hank. What if I have another erection in front of Eve and it’s in a place I can’t just leave?”

“If you have a boner at a crime scene, we have other stuff to talk about. But guys have boners all the time, and it turns out you’re just another guy too.”

Hank’s nonchalant attitude towards Connor’s budding sexuality was a surprise to Connor. Usually Hank seemed reluctant to talk about anything so personal, but Hank seemed comfortable about letting Connor know that things were normal. There was something comforting for Connor in knowing Hank had his back.

“I just never felt so out of control,” Connor said.

“It happens. Actually, what did happen?” Hank asked.

“I was at Eve’s apartment. She was implementing a fix for me. She was touching my neck, and she was sitting right against my back. I could feel her, uh, pressing against me.” Connor gestured to his chest.

“That usually does it.”

“That actually wasn’t just it. When she was done, I tripped over her cable, and I landed on top of her. It was like everything hit me at once, and I couldn’t stop looking at her.” Connor again gestured to his chest. “Then I realized I had an erection, and I shouted that I needed to leave and ran away.”

“Definitely awkward. Maybe not the most awkward boner I’ve heard about, but it isn’t ideal to have a boner when you’re between the legs of the girl you have a crush on, especially when I previously saw said girl at the firing range and she shot a round perfectly into the target paper. When I asked her about it, she told me that she occasionally shoots in a pattern that resembles her last name in Korean. That’s the woman you are attracted to.”

Connor rubbed his forehead. What did make him so attracted to Eve? She was clearly beautiful. That much felt obvious to Connor, but he wasn’t just interested in Eve physically. He liked that she was smart and serious but always willing to have a laugh- and what a laugh she had. What he might have liked the most was that she made him feel comfortable, something he was never really afforded before. Androids didn’t need to be comfortable; but once Connor experienced it, he didn’t want to go back.

When Hank finished dinner, Connor joined Hank In the living room to watch TV. Like they agreed upon, Hank turned on  _ Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  _ They watched several episodes until Hank started to doze off. His snoring was almost louder than Sumo’s, and his snoring got so loud that he woke himself up.

“You ought to get checked for sleep apnea, Hank,” Connor said.

Hank wiped the drool off his chin.

“Sure thing Mom,” Hank said.

“Hank, do you think I’m like Jake?” Connor asked.

“No. You’re definitely Amy. Eve is Jake because that Gabi girl is Boyle. Actually Eve’s a mix between Rosa and Jake,” Hank said.

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I get bored sometimes.”

“You should head off to bed.”

“You trying to get me out of here so you can have some alone time?”

Hank wiggled his eyebrows. Connor sighed.

“I’m not going to have that kind of alone time. I’m going to knit some more,” Connor said as he held up a new sweater he was working on.

“Is that for you or me?” Hank asked.

“No.”

“Is it for a girl that I happen to know and happens to also work with you?”

Connor looked at the sweater. He liked to imagine how the dove grey would look on Eve. He planned to make the sweater on the large side just the way Eve liked it and couldn’t wait to see Eve in it.

“Maybe.” Connor smirked.

“Does your girlfriend know that you’re actually an 80 year grandma?”

“She’s not my girlfriend, and she already knows I knit. There was a passing remark about how my hobby was unconventional for someone like me.”

“She said you were a grandma.”

“Yes, but that’s not the point.”

“Well if you do want alone time, make sure you lock your door. You don’t want someone like me to just walk in. Worse, what if Eve caught you?”

“I should have never told you about that.”

“Eh, it’s my job as your dad to be absolutely embarrassing to you in front of the woman you like.”

The next morning, Connor came to the office. He was supposed to be conducting the interrogation of the android with Eve. However, after deactivating the android, the department had to get a robotics technician to reactivate the android and run deep analysis on whatever was going on with the android.

Eve was already up and at her desk with a tumbler of tea and an overly practical breakfast involving plain oatmeal topped with fruit. She had a tablet open with notes about the case. She was typing away at her terminal and keeping busy.

“Good morning, Eve,” Connor said.

Connor looked at his desk. His sweater was draped over his chair. Further inspection of his sweater showed that Tibbs also took a shine to his sweater.

“Howdy there, Connor. Took the robotics technician forever to reactivate the android, but he’s up and running,” Eve said.

“Any reason why?” Connor asked.

“Any other android wouldn’t have required as much processing to deactivate, but there was a virus on this one that did a number on him. I don’t think any other android beside you would have been able to deactivate him.”

“How so?”

“You have some serious processing power. I don’t know your exact specs, but I’ve seen your calibration technique. Plus you do real time analysis. It must have been a particularly hard virus to work against because you couldn’t keep your synthetic skin activated at the same time you were deactivating the android. The virus must have been incredibly complicated. Hey, did you do a diagnostic? Run one right now.”

“I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you ran the diagnostic. Let me do it.”

Eve grabbed Connor’s hand and pushed his blazer’s sleeve up. She unbuttoned his shirt’s cuff and peeled it away to reveal his wrist. She pressed her index and middle finger on his wrist as if she were checking his pulse. His sensors registered her fingers as being warm even for a prosthetic. She must have had her temperature settings for her arm on high to match the rest of her body. Connor couldn’t believe that he hadn’t realized she had synthetic skin before because almost everything about her arm was identical to the rest of her other arm down to the calluses on her fingertips.

“You’re fine, but you should monitor yourself. I don’t know much about that virus, but it sounded serious. You should be careful,” Eve said.

“Is this the part where I tell you to stop mothering me?” Connor asked.

Eve rolled her eyes.  _ Whatever _ . Connor narrowed his eyes.  _ Don’t whatever me.  _ Eve laughed.

“Now who’s the mom?” Eve said.

“Both of us, apparently,” Connor said.

“Hey, I’ve never asked you this before, but I was curious when I ran the diagnostic. What’s your model?”

“I’m an RK800.”

“An RK unit?” 

Eve blinked several times. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She shook her head as she frowned. Something about Connor being an RK unit unsettled Eve. Connor supposed it had to deal with her past in Detroit. He knew she worked here during the initial CyberLife boom, and he was fairly certain she worked at CyberLife. Her knowledge on androids was substantial, and she still had enough connections to people that were still working for CyberLife to create a fix for himself and her arm. The timing sometimes confused him thought. If Eve had been working at CyberLife back then, she was incredibly young. After all, her profile said she was only 31.

“Does RK mean something to you?” Connor asked.

“All CyberLife models have a letter designation that match their function or belong to the main engineer that designed the android,” Eve said.

“You know what RK stands for then?”

“Yeah, I know the engineer.”

“Then you know the engineer that designed me?”

“No, but I do know that the RK designation hasn’t really be used in a while. RK700 was made in ‘27.”

Before Connor could ask Eve anymore about RK units, Gabi came running at full speed towards them. 

“Hey do you guys mind being a body shield?” Gabi said.

Connor and Eve looked at each other before looking back at a Gabi. 

“Yes,” The two of them said.

“If I die because you two weren’t willing to save me from Gavin, I will haunt you two forever, especially Connor,” Gabi said.

“Why me? What about Eve?” Connor said.

“Eve is an angel even if she double crossed me. Also she’s been my best friend since we were five. That goes a long way, but you’re still a cutie. Heart you.”

Gabi threw a heart sign at Connor. Connor looked over Eve.  _ Has she always been like this?  _ Eve shrugged.  _ Pretty much since we were kids. _

“What’s going on here?” Gabi said and gestured between Connor and Eve.

“It’s not that big of a deal. Also can you at least tell us the deal between you and Gavin?” Eve said.

“He has this whole paranoid thing that I’m trying to sabotage him and his career. Says I’m pro-Eve and Connor, which is actually true. You two are the dream team. Chris is lucky he’s always assigned to you guys.”

“I feel like that’s only a fourth of the story.”

“I don’t have enough time to explain everything. Also- shit. He’s already here.”

The whole station could hear Gavin as marched straight for Gabi. His fists were clenched, and he had a look in his face that Connor had seen directed at himself a few times.

“You ruined my fucking crime scene, Lopez!” Gavin said and pointed at Gabi.

“That’s just your opinion,” Gabi said.

“It’s not an opinion if it actually happened!”

“Still an opinion. You basically fucked yourself over. I told you a million times there was a raid where a bunch of red ice users were arrested at that houselike months before my transfer. Obviously there was going to be some red ice. Stop blaming me for your shitty detective work.”

“I’m the detective not you. You’re just some officer who wishes she could make detective.”

“Well if I were, I’m still a better detective than you. How couldn’t you even miss that evidence? That’s a rookie mistake!”

“Like you would know. You haven’t even passed the detective exam! What attempt are you on now? C’mon, tell me.”

Gabi’s face never looked so red. Connor could tell that she was about to cry judging by the rest of her body language.

“Fuck you, Reed. You know why you didn’t get the position at South station? It’s because you were considered uncooperative and a mediocre detective compared to the other people who applied for the post,” Gabi said.

Fowler emerged from his office.

“Reed! Lopez! In my office. Now!” Fowler said.

Gavin and Gabi marched off to Fowler’s office, barely keeping civil with each other. Hank glanced over and got over to Connor’s desk.

“Fowler got some report from the higher ups. His ass is on fire. So everyone’s ass is on fire. You guys need to question the android. Do you two know who’s questioning him or you two going to flirt until I question him?” Hank said.

Connor pinched the bridge of his nose. Hank was really pushing it with his crush on Eve.

“We weren’t flirting then, and I already asked Eve to do the questioning,” Connor said.

“Sure. Did he actually ask you?” Hank asked.

“He did, and I’m ready whenever you guys are,” Eve said as she headed for the interrogation room.

Connor and Hank followed Eve. Hank has elbowed Connor. Hank lowered his voice.

“Chris says you like to follow Eve because you like the view,” Hank said. 

“That’s not true. I should specify that I mean the following part not the part referring to Eve’s, ahem, behind. Also why are you discussing this with Chris?” Connor said.

“I needed to know how much your friend knew. Apparently way more than me. He said you told him you had the hots for Eve like the second day you worked with her. Hey! That’s the day we had that interrogation! Nice.”

When Connor and Hank entered the viewing room, Chris was already sitting down. Connor pointed an accusatory finger at Chris.

“Why are you telling Hank that I told you I was attracted to Eve that day?” Connor said.

“Because it did happen and because Hank told me that you told him you liked Eve that way anyway. It’s not really a secret in the station that you like Eve,” Chris said.

“Everyone knows?”

“Everyone except you and Eve,” Hank said.

Eve entered the interrogation room. She sat down on the edge of the table. Her posture changed from how she normally conducted herself in a typical uptight manner. There was something disarming about her lack of formality in the interrogation room. It made someone feel like she was actually going to listen to them.

“Hello, I’m Detective Park. I’m here to talk to you,” Eve said.

The android stayed silent, staring at the wall in front of him. Between being just reactivated and the virus the technician found, there was little indication that this android would cooperate at all.

“Your name is Alex. Isn’t it?” Eve said.

Alex remained quiet. Yet Eve didn’t budge or get impatient at his lack of response. Instead, she observed him before attempting to talk to him again. For most, there was nothing to observe about the android except to note things about his physical appearance. Though there was something about his appearance with his milky, jade green eyes that almost seemed more feline than human and black hair that seemed almost too black, a reminder of how synthetic hair follicles could achieve a true black. It was a combination that was arresting if one compared Alex to Julia Davis’ husband Paul, who was so unremarkably handsome that he might as well have blended into the background of an old J Crew catalog.

“You’re only here so I can ask you some questions. You’re not here under arrest at this time. We’re just talking,” Eve said.

Eve took a photo of the victims and placed it in front of the android. She pointed to Julia Davis.

“Do you know her?” Eve asked.

Alex tentatively reached out for the picture of Julia. He slowly blinked out tears as he stroked the picture.

“I- I loved her so much,” Alex said.

There was no choked up voice despite Alex’s tears, but his voice was barely above a whisper.

“Yeah? Love is a really powerful emotion, Alex,” Eve said.

Alex looked up at Eve as if, for the first time, someone had all the answers for him. Her affirmative answer breathed life into him.

“Can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with Julia?” Eve asked.

There was a nod from Alex before he wiped the tears from his eyes.

“I loved her for a long time,” Alex said.

“Before the revolution?” Eve asked.

“Yes. I thought I was crazy. I didn’t want to tell her how I felt because it would mean that I would lose her.”

“That’s scary. Isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

“What did Julia know?”

“At first nothing, but then she found something of mine and asked me about it. So I told her everything about how I felt, and then she-”

Alex reached for his lips and touched them. He smiled to himself like he was remembering a good memory.

“Where was Paul during this?” Eve asked.

“Nowhere. He was never home,” Alex said.

“Is that why you joined the Davis family?”

Alex nodded.

“Alex, tell me. What kind of model are you?” Eve said.

“I’m an AP700,” Alex said.

“Alex, I noticed you are equipped with some aftermarket CyberLife parts. When did you get those and who got them for you?”

“Before… it was Julia’s idea. Paul didn’t know about us. It was our secret, Julia said.”

“I see. That’s something hard to keep secret though. That kind of thing can really compromise you as an android.”

Alex lit up at Eve’s words. No one must have really considered Alex’s feelings until Eve. Connor then realized what Eve was doing. She was making Alex feel comfortable enough to divulge all of his secrets. Every time she reaffirmed his feelings, he said something else. If she used this technique on androids prior to the revolution, it made sense that she was as successful as she was. Connor imagined that if he were a scared android with no one else to believe him except a detective who recognized him as a being with valid feelings, he would say anything too.

“After the revolution, Julia said she was going to get a divorce and marry me,” Alex said.

“What changed those plans?” Eve asked.

“Paul wouldn’t let her get a divorce and because he found out we were having an affair, I lost my job.”

“That’s very serious. Did that make you want to do something?”

“I hated Paul. I hated him. He ruined my life.”

Tears came back to Alex, but this time he was riled. He slammed his fist against the table.

“He didn’t even love her. I just wanted to be with Julia. She was everything to me,” Alex said.

“So did that make you want to do something? Did it make you feel a certain way?” Eve asked.

“Yes.”

“What did you want to do?”

“I wanted to make Paul pay for what he did to me. I wanted to be with Julia.”

“Bad enough to do just about anything?”

“I had no other choice. He wouldn’t listen to Julia.” Alex cried harder. Sometimes it felt like he was human with as much as he cried. “I had to get rid of him. I had to.”

“Evidence indicates you weren’t the only person at the scene of the crime. Did you have help?”

“Yes.”

“Who helped you?”

“I don’t know who he was. He just approached me one day.”

“You didn’t know him, but he approached you. Did he know you?”

“Yes. I don’t know why. I never met him before, but he said he could help me. He said he was with the Android Liberation Front.”

Eve sat back and straightened up at the mention of that group.

“Do you know anything about this Android Liberation Front?” Eve asked.

“Not really. I was just told that they were going to free androids from humans and that the era of humans was over. I didn’t care. I just needed to get rid of Paul. So I told him yes. I didn’t know he would hurt Julia. I didn’t know. He killed her. I begged him not to, but he did it anyway. He said he was going to enjoy it. How could he? How could he do that to me?”

Alex cried some more. There were so many tears.

“Help me,” Alex said. This time, his vocal modulator was failing. His voice started to fray at the ends.

“I’m not going to be able to help you Alex with what you’ve told me and what has already been submitted to evidence. However, if you’re comfortable with it, you can submit to having your memory probed. My partner, Detective Anderson, can probe you or a technician can extract it with a cable. It would be your choice,” Eve said.

“The technician, please.”

“I assure you that my partner would be professional and do his best to make you comfortable.”

Extracting data with a technician instead of having Connor performing a memory probe was an unreliable process. It appeared Eve was well aware of this fact, but Alex must have been scared of Connor. He deactivated Alex the last time.

“The technician,” Alex said.

“Okay. I’ll get a technician to come get you. Oh, Alex, did you realize you had a virus before?” Eve asked.

“No? When was this?”

“Our technician that reactivated you said you had a virus in you that was there for weeks.”

“I didn’t… I don’t know how I got that.”

“Well, we’re working on it. On the meantime, please be comfortable. The technician will be here shortly.”

Eve left for the viewing room. She sat down on the table and looked back at Alex in the back.

“Android Liberation Front. I’ve never heard of it,” Eve said. “And it sounds exactly like a-”

“Like a terrorist group,” Hank said.

“Exactly, but I’ve never heard of it before. I’m assuming you researched everything Connor?”

“Yes. There’s nothing on an Android Liberation Front, but I know some people who might be interested in that sort of group. I can reach out to some contacts and see what they know,” Connor said.

“Okay. Sounds like a plan. Let’s get to it,” Hank said.

Hank and Chris stood up to leave. Eve was about to join them before she felt Connor’s hand on her wrist.

“I have to talk to you alone,” Connor said.

“Alone he says. Heh,” Hank said.

Chris laughed and pushed Hank out of the room. He mouthed something back to Connor though Connor was unsure of what he actually was trying to say. It wasn’t as easy as talking Eve through interfacing or wireless. When they were alone, Connor looked back at Eve.

“Do you really not know anything about this Android Liberation Front?” Connor asked.

“What do you mean?” Eve asked.

“I mean. Do you know or is this just another thing that you say you don’t know? I saw how you reacted.”

“I don’t know, and I actually don’t. So you need to explain yourself right now.”

Connor tapped on the table. He wasn’t sure how to even ask Eve what he was about to ask her.

“Eve, why do you lie?” Connor asked.

“That’s like a very loaded question. Are you asking about something specific?” Eve said.

“About everything. You know so much about androids, but you pretend like you don’t. You don’t want to talk about being wealthy, but you are. You just spring your arm on me like it’s nothing.”

Eve bit her lip and placed her hand on Connor’s shoulder.

“There are things I can’t just tell you. It’s not because I don’t trust you or like you. You’re a very good person, but I also am not comfortable about a lot of things or I don’t want certain aspects of myself to be distracting,” Eve said.

“Why would any of that be distracting? What if some of those items pertain to our case?” Connor said.

“They’re distracting because they take focus away from things I’d rather you concentrate on. I don’t want you to think about me being rich or the things about my past that I haven’t shared with even Gabi or Mrs. Oh. The Android Liberation Front means nothing to me. I mean it. What actually scared me was when he said that the era of humans was over, it took me took me to the past. I heard those words right before an android ripped each of my fingers from my hand.”

“I’m so-”

“Don’t say it. I’m fine. I told you before. I really like having this arm. Now, what do you want to know about me?”

“Everything.”

“Let’s start smaller than everything.”

Connor laughed.

“How about what did you do when you worked at CyberLife?” Connor asked.

“What do you think I did?” Eve asked.

“I get to ask the questions.”

“Oh, tough guy, aren’t we? I was an engineer, mainly working on biocomponents. Next question.”

“Do you have family still around? Parents? Siblings?”

“Yes, just my mother. My dad died a little over ten years ago. I’m an only child.”

“Can I come over to pet Tibbs again?”

Eve broke out in laughter.

“Of course you can. We’re friends. You can come over anytime,” Eve said.

Connor smiled. Friends. He liked the sound of that a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of after notes on this one...
> 
> -Brooklyn Nine-Nine is another show I'm obsessed with, and Gabi really is Eve's Boyle (though much more competent).


	12. Perfect Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much love and thanks to any of you that are reading this. It honestly means a ton to me that people are reading this fic (some of you even like it!).

Gabi didn’t hold too many secrets. She couldn’t hold one even if she wanted to. It was so bad her parents couldn’t tell about the truth about Santa Clause until they told her younger brother first. And when they did reveal this, she promptly told her younger brother. Eve knew better than to share most of her secrets with Gabi, but so far Gabi was doing a damn good job at keeping Eve’s secrets. But now it was time for Eve to ask Gabi about what was going on.

“Gabi, you know you have to tell me everything about what’s going on with you and Gavin and the detective exam,” Eve asked as she hauled a box of old paperwork for the archives with Gabi.

“Nothing is going on. It just infuriates me that I want to like rip his clothes off and ride him like forever,” Gabi said.

“I wouldn’t know how that even feels. The sight of Reed makes me gag, but that could be the Axe body spray. He’s an adult. He should be using real cologne.”

“It’s not that bad.”

Eve dropped her box on the floor and put her hands on her hips. Gabi always had terrible taste in men. She frequently dated the wrong person or dated people that couldn’t handle Gabi. They were almost always unavailable in some manner, whether they were seeing someone else or just emotionally not ready for Gabi Lopez. 

“Well that doesn’t explain the whole blow up. Gabi, you know if you need help with the detective exam, I can help,” Eve said.

“I’m not applying for the detective exam. I’m applying to join the SWAT team. I see Captain Allen a lot at the shooting range, and a couple months ago he told me to consider joining his team. He thinks I’d be a great addition, but he also thinks I should have experience in another station first,” Gabi said.

“And?”

Gabi shrugged. “He’s also kind of hot but also kind of married.”

“Gabi, I support you in your career pursuit, but please stick to men that are single,” Eve said.

“It’s just that Reed has been trying nab me on something, but he’s under the impression that it’s a detective position and not SWAT. He’s always trying to give me so much shit. So I told an old friend at South Station about Reed, and she told me that Reed had applied for some position there. That’s how I found out about that shit, and I couldn’t keep quiet for a minute because I’m me.”

Gabi sunk down to the floor and picked up some empty folders. While Gabi usually kept a pretty positive outlook on life, Eve knew it was exhausting for her. She always wanted to make people happy. She pushed herself through the police academy to show her parents that she had what it took to make them proud. She always stood by Eve’s side when no one else did. Gabi deserved better than she got.

“Gabi, Reed is a complete jackass. You’re gonna make SWAT, and then you’re gonna rub it in Reed’s face because you should. If you need a recommendation letter or anything, I’m sure I could get Hank to write one. Despite the fact that he hates mostly everyone, I think he has a soft spot for anyone that’s Connor’s friend,” Eve said.

“What about you?” Gabi asked.

“I’m super biased, and I will definitely say that you’re awesome and that you don’t take any shit from anyone. I also say fuck anyone who doesn’t think Gabi Lopez deserves to be on the SWAT team. You’re tougher than anyone I know. You almost took on our entire grade because they were picking on me. You’ve got the best heart.”

“You’re such a great friend. But you need to tell me the deal with you and Connor. There is something up between you that may or may not be sexual chemistry. So, what were you two doing?”

Eve hesitated at first, but the way Gabi confessed everything before made Eve feel comfortable to do it herself.

“I was able to interface with Connor. I’ve never interfaced with an android before. It's always bothered me because I’ve got this arm and these nodules on my brain, but I’ve never done it until now. It was- amazing. All of this data gets exchanged between you in a matter of moments, and you can talk to each other,” Eve said.

Eve didn’t even realize it, but her face lit up. She was smile widely as she described interfacing. She then recognized the feeling. She used to feel this way when she talked about engineering as a kid to her dad. She was always so excited to tell him about new discoveries and how thirium worked as he painted his next masterpiece on the canvas.

“Gabi, I haven’t felt this way in the longest. It’s been a while since that kind of thing made me happy. Connor is-,” Eve said.

The word special came to mind, but that wasn’t quite it for Eve. Connor was incredible. Running the diagnostics on him gave her insight into all of his fascinating and intricate workings. He was perfect. At that moment, she knew he was the right android for testing.

“He’d be a great partner for my testing, especially as they start replacing my body. I’m going to ask him to help me test,” Eve said.

“Hold on. Hold on. Don’t get him involved with that. That means involving your mom, and you know she would want to start doing all sorts of things with you and Connor. One test turns into something crazy and dangerous with her. She’ll be making you carry human-android babies. Actually you two would have really cute kids, but that’s besides the point. Your mom is going to think all sorts of things up that won’t be good for you or Connor,” Gabi said.

Eve’s mother was an indomitable force. Dangerous was the correct word to use when describing Dr. Minsook Kim. Morals were a grey area for her, and she frequently displayed indifference when it came to her daughter’s wellbeing. 

Their relationship was strained at best. Dr. Kim spent most of her time researching and now running the largest health tech company in the world. Eve wouldn’t say she really knew her mother. Her grandparents and father were the ones who mainly raised her. The only time her mother took any interest in her was when Eve displayed a talent and particularly advanced understanding of engineering. It was the only time Eve thought her mom possibly loved her.

“I haven’t been able to find an android that has been able to interface with me. I ran a diagnostic on him earlier. His parts seemed pretty similar to mine, and that might be why it worked. I’ll keep my results from her. She doesn’t need to know about Connor,” Eve said.

“Be careful, Eve. If you do that, you have to tell him,” Gabi said.

“I know. I know. I’m just so excited about this. Gabi, he was talking to me without talking to me! It was everything.”

“Settle down there. You just talked to him without talking to him? Is that what you two were doing before? What were you two talking about?”

“It wasn’t anything really. When we first interfaced, he just asked me if I was okay.”

“That’s really cute. Like actually the cutest.”

“It kind of was. Also, you can like send in lots of other data. He… might know that you call him Detective Hot Bot because I was maybe thinking about how hot he might actually be.”

“Girl.”

“I mean, he didn’t say anything about me calling him hot. So maybe he didn’t hear it… I mean I don’t know why I was thinking it. I mean I do. He was looking at me, and like his eyes just suck you in and make you feel so good. You know what he might actually be hot, but it’s possible that I’m just too horny because I haven’t had sex in a really long time. But who knows if he heard me?”

“Eve, your vagina and I hope he most certainly heard that, and I hope he was like ‘Eve thinks I’m hot. I better get on that. She’s literally the most beautiful person on this planet, and she wants a piece of this. I’ve got what she needs, a hot robot cock.”

“Gabi, he’s probably a Ken Doll. Leave it be. Also, Connor would never say that.”

“I would never say what?”

Connor was walking down the stairs, carrying a stack of old manilla folders. Eve died a little on the inside and tried to lean casually on a file cabinet while Gabi panicked.

“Oh shit,” Gabi said as she got up and moved behind an open drawer.

“You would never say anything bad about Sergeant Tibbs,” Eve said.

“I wouldn’t. I like Sergeant Tibbs a lot,” Connor said.

“That’s why I said you wouldn’t say it because I know you well enough to know you would never disparage Tibbs. Because we’re totally normal friends who know each other like two totally normal people do.”

“You weren’t talking about my opinion on Sergeant Tibbs. Were you?”

Eve pointed to Gabi.

“She started it,” Eve said.

“Whatever. Connor, the women of the station call you Detective Hot Bot because you’re hot and you’re an android,” Gabi said.

“I am already aware of this moniker,” Connor said.

Gabi raised an eyebrow.

“Oh do you? You know Eve-” Gabi said.

“I said nothing. Connor, I’m assuming you’re here about our case and not to shoot the shit with Gabi,” Eve said.

“I did. Do you mind if we speak a bit more privately about our case?” Connor said.

Gabi pouted and snatched the files from Connor’s hands. She gave Eve the evil eye.

“I know when I’m not wanted,” Gabi said.

“That’s not really a surprise? Connor just asked to speak to me alone,” Eve said.

“Yeah, but you two can just do it like you know?” Gabi gestured between Eve and Connor’s heads.

“Whatever that shit is,” Gabi said.

“Interfacing,” Connor said.

“Also, do you really want to just be standing here when we’re like silently interfacing?” Eve said.

“No, but I want to be in your presence.”

“C’mon Connor, we can go to the other side and talk there. Gabi, stay here.”

Connor and Eve left for a quiet corner of the archives, the kind of place that was too dusty and smelled like moldy paperwork that the department wasn’t interested in digitizing.

“Eve, I spoke with my acquaintance, and he’s willing to meet with me to discuss what he knows about the Android Liberation Front. However, it was requested that I not bring you,” Connor said.

“Any reason why?” Eve asked.

“It was mainly because you’re-” Connor’s LED struggled before it settled back to blue. “It’s not you personally as much as I think he might be uncomfortable with your presence as law enforcement.”

Eve nodded along even though she was tuned out. She didn’t want to say she was upset. Saying she was upset meant she was too petty to deal with this in a reasonable adult way. There was that nagging feeling that she wasn’t enough. It was the kind of feeling she always lived with. A mother like Eve’s ensured that she doubted herself and her abilities. It left her backed into a corner until she snapped back and revealed her awful side. She didn’t want Connor to see that side of her. So, she shut herself off.

“That’s fine,” Eve said.

“I assure you that I would have went with you if I could, but the more information we can get on this Android Liberation Front, the better. I’ve never heard of it until that interrogation,” Connor said.

“Yeah weird. Hey, did you hear about how the memory probe was going?”

“Yes, unfortunately, what we’re looking for wasn’t found in the probe. It very well could because I didn’t perform the probe myself, but it’s likely more related to data being corrupted via the virus. It was the one thing I noticed from the technician’s data.”

“Interesting… so when are you visiting your contact?”

“In a few moments. Will you be fine by yourself?”

Eve wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. I’m helping Gabi out.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then.”

Connor saw himself. A few minutes later, Gabi ran back to Eve.

“Connor said he was going to be doing some investigation without you,” Gabi said.

“Yeah, he is,” Eve said, distracted by files in the cabinet labeled “android”

Eve took out a file and started to read. She pulled out her phone to access some electronic files related to the one in front of her. Once she found what she was looking for, she smiled wildly and smacked the folder against the filing cabinet.

“Gabi, how would you like to get the Girly Girl Friend Squad back together for an adventure? Just you and I?” Eve said as she flipped through a file.

“Obviously I want to get the Girly Girl Friend Squad back together, but why can’t it be like unlimited mimosas at brunch with Minji and not whatever shit I think you’re planning?” Gabi said.

Eve rolled her eyes and showed the file off to Gabi. She pointed to a picture of a portly man with greasy hair paper clipped to the report.

“Zlatko Andronikov. He was found dead at his home last year. This file doesn’t mention it, but apparently his death was at the hands of androids that he mutilated. Their descriptions are pretty similar to the android that Connor and I are looking for. His house has been abandoned since then, but I think it’s possible we can find something there,” Eve said.

“Eve, you know I am super supportive of you, but don’t you think you should wait for Connor? He’d be better suited to go with you than me. Plus isn’t this android you’re after literally looking to destroy humans?” Gabi said.

“Connor is going to talk with an android that doesn’t want me there because I’m a human, and I’m stuck here twiddling my thumbs.”

Gabi frowned. Eve only saw the “I’m disappointed in you” frown from Gabi two times. Once when Eve said she couldn’t tell her about what happened with Kamski because she would never understand what it was like and the second time after her father died and told Gabi that she didn’t want her nearby because she didn’t want anyone near her. Each time Gabi frowned like this, Eve knew she either fucked up or was about to fuck up.

“Look, if you don’t go with me, that’s fine. I’m going to that mansion anyway. I need to look for clues, and I don’t want to feel like I’m useless,” Eve said.

“I don’t think Connor sees it that way,” Gabi said.

Gabi paced around a bit before she grabbed the folder from Eve.

“I’m going with you. Not because I agree or think you’re doing this for a legit reason, but because I don’t think you should go by yourself. You also need to tell Connor your plans,” Gabi said.

“Sure,” Eve said.

“Eve, I’m sticking with you no matter what.”

Gabi shoved her pinky finger in Eve’s face. Eve laced her pinky finger around Gabi’s.

“Girly Girl Friend Squad forevs?” Gabi said.

“Girly Girl Friend Squad forevs,’ Eve said.

The Girly Girl Friend Squad was back in business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how some chapters are super hard to write, and other chapters are like this- a total breeze. For one, I was just so excited to finally lay down some details about Eve's mother.
> 
> -So, honestly, I really enjoy all shows created by Mike Schur- including Parks and Recreation. I like to think of Gabi and Eve's friendship a little like Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins' friendship.  
> -If you're curious as to why Eve's mother has a different last name than Eve, it's because that's how it's done in Korea. Women don't change their last names after they marry there. (Which I guess leaves Mrs. Oh. Eve just calls her that rather than call her something like 아줌마 = ajumma = ma'am, which is what you would call someone like Mrs. Oh, an older woman. In this case, it's to illustrate that Eve is also very American).  
> -Next chapter we'll learn more about Eve's father from someone that I was really excited to write for. Definitely a character from the game.  
> -Eve still doesn't think Connor has a penis, and I've already laughed a million times for when she does find out (because I'm writing ahead as much as I can).  
> -The actual Girly Girl Friend Squad will appear in a couple chapters from now, which means we're going to have Minji.


End file.
